Hunters Moon
by SniperGirl0907
Summary: Movieverse AU: A pack of Insecticons arrive on earth, hunted by the Dinobots; but in the ensuing chaos tensions begin to fray as Prime and Majestrix's roles as leaders are called into question. At the same time, a mysterious hunter joins the hunt, and he's got Optimus Prime lined up in his sights. Chapter 4 of the Tomorrow is Forever Coming saga: OC centric.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

* * *

HUNTER'S MOON

PROLOGUE

The night was black as ebony; not a light could be seen in any direction: save for the pale golden moon that peeked out from behind the clouds every once in a while, and lit up the canyon in a dim sulfurous glow. Everywhere was still and quiet, save for the strange dark figures going about their work in and out of the shadows of the hidden complex.

From out of the darkness, a stranger appeared at length as he strolled over into the flood lights. Unconcerned by the strange looks he was receiving; he carried on up to the entrance of the complex, where a tall well-built man dressed head to toe in black combat gear was standing with his arms crossed, and with a large brief case at his side.

"...I take it you're my contact?" the stranger asked in a well-spoken British accent

"Yes. I'm agent Red" the man replied in a flat monotone as he offered his hand to the stranger,

"Please, call me Chumley: everyone else does" the stranger smiled as he shook the agent's hand.

"Pleasure. But time is short, so let's get right to business" the agent replied,

"Indeed..." Chumley nodded, "First of all, the payment"

The agent lifted up the brief case, opened it, and showed its contents to Chumley: whose smile broadened as he carefully scanned the neatly piled stacks of money. "The first deposit as agreed: the rest will be wired directly to your Swiss bank account upon completion of the assignment" the agent replied.

"You know, I don't usually take assignments of this 'particular' nature: but when you're commander told me what I'd be hunting. Well, I just _couldn't _refuse" Chumley added as he closed the brief case.

"You're 'particular' skill-set is exactly what we need. Silas wouldn't have commissioned you if he knew you couldn't be up to the job" the agent stated in a matter-of-factly, almost rude sort of tone.

"Charmed," Chumley smirked dryly (the insult wasn't lost on him), before asking in a more serious manner: "But seriously, I _wouldn't_ have taken the job if I knew the odds wouldn't be in my favour. I've hunted many varieties of big game: but this is a whole other 'breed' in its own right"

"You question the data we forwarded to you?" the agent frowned sceptically.

"Not at all old boy: I'm just glad I've finally got a chance to play with my more 'bigger' toys..." Chumley replied with a smug grin, "Speaking of which, the 'additional resources' you promised: if you don't mind me asking, what have you managed to scrape together?"

"Everything you requested..." the agent gestured to the metal doors. Approaching quietly and poking his head inside the complex: Chumley went wide-eyed at the sight before him, before letting his smile broaden into a Cheshire-cat grin.

"Mr Red, I believe we will get along swimmingly" Chumley beamed

* * *

Meanwhile, high in orbit above California:

**: Contact: are you receiving? Over: **

**: Desibel acknowledges: proceed with mission objective:**

**: The bugs aren't too far away now; they should be making planet-fall within the next twenty four earth hours. You're objective is to oversee their activities once they're on the planet. If they're able to find cover, report their position and forward any comm-bursts directly to me:**

**: Understood. Observation: Insecticon mission objective will be delayed:**

**: Delayed? Explain! :**

**: The Dinobots detected their signal as they passed Saturn's orbit; they followed them:**

**: What!-...Aw frag. Shockwave's **_**not**_** gonna like this:**

**: Affirmative. Question: any additional actions to be undertaken? :**

**: No, just keep an optic on them and report any developments as they occur. I'll try and get word to Shockwave. If the Dinobots are chasing them, things are gonna go bad real quick:**

**: Affirmative: Desibel out:**

* * *

**Hello again! & welcome to the 4th installment of Tomorrow is Forever Coming :D If you've just joined in, you might want to read my prior stories to get up to speed on what's what & what's going on. Other than that, I hope you enjoy :)**

**A/N: A couple of things to keep in mind before we kick off on this latest adventure :) I've got a lot of other stuff going on at the moment so updates will be fewer and farther between compared to the other stories I've done. Also, I've been a little out of touch with this writing venture so I'll be taking time to refresh my memory in places; & in addition to that my writing style might be lacking in places, so I apologize in advance for any oversights of mistrakes I miss.  
**

**Other than that, read on & enjoy! :D  
**


	2. Chpt 1 - Just Another Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

* * *

HUNTERS MOON

Chapter 1: Just Another Day

Knock-knock-knock!

"Hey! Wake up sleepy-head! It's past eight already!" John shouted from the other side of the door. Stirring from his sleep with a grunt: Ashley gaped his mouth wide open, and yawned with a deep lion-like groan as he stretched his arms and legs out, and curled his tail up and around his side. As he propped himself up on his elbows and sat upright he suddenly picked up the scent of food, and a lot of it. "What the-" he scrunched his face up in confusion; but stopped when he looked down at the floor, "-Hell? ..."

Scattered everywhere on the floor, where dozens and dozens of empty food wrappers, tin cans that looked like they had been ripped apart, bones left over from pork, beef and lamb shoulders and leg joints, and several chicken carcasses that had been picked clean of every speck of flesh. After staring at the mess in bug-eyed amazement for a moment, Ashley let out a long tired sigh as he held his head in his hands: "...Not again" he grumbled under his breath.

"Okay, you've slept long enough: now it's time to-" His father stopped his tracks as he let himself into the room, and noticed the mess. For a moment he didn't know what to say; but Ashley saved him the trouble as he looked up at him with a mixed look of embarrassment and worry.

"Dad: I think I need to see Ratchet" he reluctantly admitted.

* * *

Elsewhere, several thousand feet above the desert:

"How's she looking from down there?" Majestrix asked over the comm

**: Nothing: can't even pick up the discharge trail from the thrusters: the FSLDC's working perfectly:** Wheeljack replied

"Excellent..." the Prima smiled as she switched to a different channel. **:Major, I'm lowering the rear ramp: you're clear to jump:**,"Copy that," Major Lennox replied over his comm.

After over a month's work of remodeling, upgrades, and additional repairs: the Black Solstus was finally ready to return to duty as the Autobot's new stealth-class battle cruiser. Compared to her days as the 9's HQ, she was much smaller, and much more streamlined: but still outdid the Ark by over a hundred feet in length, and could easily outrun Omega Supreme. She still retained her Decepticon profile and design, only now she had full-spectrum light distorting camouflage field projectors at her disposal: allowing her to completely disappear from sight (as well as radar and scanners). Today was her third test flight; and the purpose of today's test was to check the performance of the landing ramps, the one's near the stern of the ship, right under the main thrusters. And this proved to be the perfect opportunity for Major Lennox and his team to get some high-altitude parachute jumping practice done (as well as have some fun with their newly issued wing-suits).

As the giant ramps lowered down and locked into position, the men all stepped closer to the edge; the rushing of the wind past the door frames stimulated their adrenaline levels to rise, with a buzz of excitement swelling in their guts: leaving most of them grinning like little kids who were about to go on the world's biggest roller-coaster. When the safety light overhead turned from red to green, Lennox gave the order to jump, and one by one the men stepped over the edge of the platform, spread their arms and legs, and let the wind catch them like falling autumn leaves.

"This is so fuckin' awesome!" Epps shouted out in excitement

"I know, right?" Lennox beamed as he maneuvered into position: the men all followed suit until they were all aligned in a V formation; and together, they glided northwards, riding the air as they soared over the mountains and vast arid land below.

"Wow, those new wing-suits really work" Novastar smiled as she watched them from several thousand feet above.

"I thought it was some new parachute design or something, I didn't think they'd _literally_ use a wing design for actual flight" Skywarp frowned, before lightening up a little: "...Still, I have to admit: for an organic with a terrestrial-based design, they glide okay"

"Well, they are a pretty adaptable species: if they can swim as good as a sharkticon, I don't see why it would be completely beyond their capability to learn how to fly if they needed to (even if it was by artificial means)" Novastar reasoned as she pointed her nosecone downwards, descending into a giant cumulus nimbus cloud. "Changing the subject: are you sure this is a good idea? You're mother's right below us, and if she catches us together like this, it'll be _both_ our wings" Skywarp voiced his concern as he flanked her left wing.

"As far as she's concerned, we're both trying to catch the Black Solstus's camouflage out, by both Autobot and Decepticon means: and thus far we've not succeeded. All that's left to do is to check the rear ramps are suitable for air-born landings and take-offs... Besides, it's not like we're _actually doing _anything up here, is it?" she teased.

"No, I suppose not..." Skywarp replied in an equally playful manner, "Then again, there's always that high altitude test Que wants us to run on that new gadget of his"

"Exactly, so don't worry: we'll be fine" Novastar smiled inwardly as she banked to the right, and dropped down out of the clouds: Skywarp followed her lead as she headed towards the Black Solstus.

* * *

Down below, in the base's armory:

"Ah hell, the Black Solstus is up an' running and we get maintenance duty" Danny sighed as he checked his inventory list. "She'll be flying other time's you know? It's not like it's a one-off" Tom replied from where he sat on the end of the giant bot-sized cannon: cleaning part of the barrel. "Yeah, It's just that it would've been cool to be the first, you know?" his red-headed cousin replied.

Tom was about to say something else, when the sight of Velocity entering the room with Morri on her shoulder drew his attention. The blue femme strode over to the bot-sized table they were on, and let her passenger down gently. "Thanks: that's three jobs I can check off my duty roster for today" Morri smiled up at her as she walked over to Danny. "Where've you two been at?" he asked, "Shifting the new deliveries in hanger's 12-B, 12-C and 6-H: the fork-lift truck was down for maintenance so Velocity said she'd give me a hand" she replied.

"Oh it was nothing," Velocity waved off, "Besides, I heard Deathshot was in the armory today, and I really need to talk to him..." she said as she looked around the room. "Talk to me about what?" Deathshot replied flatly as he peered around a shelving unit.

"Oh, um?...Do you mind if we talk somewhere else? It's-, kinda personal" Velocity sheepishly replied, beckoning him with her finger. Though his face told her he wasn't interested, Deathshot (ever the polite gentlemech) obliged, and followed her outside into the corridor.

"What is it? I got a lot that needs doing before lunch" he stated in a flat monotone. For a moment Velocity seemed to struggle in trying to find the right words: before finally replying "...Actually, I was kinda hoping you'd be free for lunch. You see: there's some things I'd like to talk to you about; things I've-, been contemplating a lot these past few weeks, and until now haven't had the courage to talk to you about face to face...Listen, I know we've never really gotten along, but this _is_ important, and I'd be very grateful if you could just hear me out..."

Deathshot just stood there with his poker face not budging an inch: on the one hand, the unsure submissiveness in her voice told him she wasn't lying...but still...

With a reluctant sigh, he replied: "...Fine: I'll be there". "Wonderful," she smiled, "see you there then" and walked off back the way she came. Deathshot walked back into the armory: only to see Tom and Danny standing on the table, grinning like a couple of idiots.

"No" the sniper stated flatly

"What? But we haven't even-"

"NO" he stated firmly; not in the mood to engage in any banter, he resumed his work: but this time, at the opposite side of the room, well away from everyone else. Beckoning Danny and Morri to follow him, Tom climbed off the cannon and down to the floor, joining Arcee and Moonracer in one of the adjoining storage rooms: once the door was shut and he knew his guardian was well out of ear-shot, he let out a long frustrated sigh: "_What the hell_ is his problem?! Since when did a date become such a big deal?!"

"It's not a date" Morri corrected matter-of-factly, "She just needs to talk to him about some things"

"Like what?" Danny asked

"I don't know, I didn't ask" Morri replied with a mother hen look

"Considering how she treated us when she first arrived: it had better be an apology" Tom frowned

"I think she's been trying to make amends" Arcee's blue self threw in, "She's been quite passive since that whole thing with Longrange blew over: maybe she's began to see reason?" her pink self threw in.

"I have to admit, she's been more engaging these past few weeks" Morri pointed out, "Helping me out here and there: I think she's trying to prove herself to get into D's good book"

"Yeah: but why you? She's not offered to help _us_ with anything" Tom pointed out

"I asked her about that the other day. She said she wasn't so sure you guys would be as 'approachable' as me" Morri replied

"And you believe her?" Danny asked

Morri thought about it a moment: "...I don't know" she replied frankly, "She's a little, 'peculiar' at times, but I'm inclined to think it's her lack of being a 'people person' that makes it tricky for her to make friends" she reasoned; "In any case, being a one-time arse-hole's no excuse for not giving the benefit of the doubt"

"So why's D being so ridged about it?" Danny asked

Morri paused, "...I wish I knew..." she admitted, "...But I got a feeling there's some history between them...Maybe she just wants to finally resolve it?"

* * *

A little while later, in the med-bay:

"And you've been having these 'night-feasts' for-, how long?" Ratchet asked as he scanned Ashley's chest.

"Couple of weeks now: it started not long before Darren's cousins first arrived on the base" the twelve year old hybrid admitted sheepishly

"Well, at least now we know where all the food in the mess kept diapering to; Bloody hell Ashley why didn't you say anything?!" his father huffed

"I wasn't sure, okay!" Ashley shot back; "I wasn't even aware of it (to begin with). First there was the bad morning breath, then the indigestion at breakfast: I only started finding the wrappers and packets in my room a few days ago; it didn't occur to me until yesterday that I'd been unconsciously piling on the pounds!"

"And then some" Ravage threw in: "You've put on nearly twice you're original body weight. Surely you're organic system's are not _that _depleted?"

"I don't know" Ashley shrugged, "I sure as hell don't feel any different"

"Well whatever the reason, it could well be something to do with your altered biology," Ratchet replied as he sent a data-burst of his scan results into the med-bay's central mainframe computer: while simultaneously typing in the commands to bring up the results. "Considering your body mass is now ten times greater than when you where completely human, it's possible you're new body requires-..." but the medic suddenly stopped: staring at the monitor for moment, before leaning in to read the data more carefully. Ratchet's sudden shift in attention wasn't lost on the others, as Ravage stood up and demanded: "What's wrong?"

"That's just it," Ratchet replied, "I don't know if this qualifies as 'wrong'"

Baffled by his response, Ashley and his dad climbed off the birth and made their way to the medic's side: as Ravage simultaneously jumped up onto the desk to get a better look at the computer screen. As he read through the data, he flicked an ear back in confusion. "What is _this_ supposed to be?" he demanded.

"The results of the scans" Ratchet replied as he leaned back from the screen, "When I created the DNA scanner to keep an optic on the 'chromosome-latching nanites' I also installed other scanning functions to check the development of all the other nanite-based cells in Ashley's body...this was a scan I did two weeks ago" he pulled up a micro cross-section photo of Ashley's hemogon, "...and this is your hemogon now..." he added as he pulled up another cross-section photo.

Ashley stared at the latter picture in confusion: unsure what to make of it: "But-, what is it?" he asked bemused.

"This..." Ratchet pointed to, what looked like a large cluster of bright blue cells, flowing amid the hemogon cells, "I first noticed this particular cell a while ago; at first I thought it was some by-product of the organic-energon process in your gastric system: the same principle by which vitamin D is the by-product of ultraviolet irradiation in the skin. But when I analyzed it, I found it didn't do anything, it was completely dormant: no mitosis, no processes of any kind; nothing. And yet, you're body has been producing more and more of these mystery cells, from the previously dormant rear double lobes in your brain" he explained.

"How long has this been happening?" John asked concernedly

"Two weeks ago the cellular count was barely zero point three percent, today's scans show their at near at ninety eight percent"

"What?! And you didn't tell us?!" John exclaimed

"I didn't want to rush to conclusions without first getting all the facts!" Ratchet shot back, "Between the Lambo and Chevy twin's antics and the recent annual maintenance check-ups, I've not had the time necessary to extract a sample and perform a full cellular biopsy" he explained in a calmer tone, "I'll take a blood sample now and get started. But don't forget, since only you and a select small number of others outside this room _actually know_ about Ashley's true condition, I can't afford to do anything that's going to cast suspicion among the other Autobots"

"Since when has idle gossip ever fazed _you?_" Ravage asked in a droll, slightly sarcastic tone.

"Any other time I couldn't care less what everyone whispers about: but with the possibility of a mole being on the base hanging over all of us, gossip is the last thing that needs spreading around right now" Ratchet huffed as he prepared a small syringe.

"That reminds me: why the hell did Galloway have to call Bishop back to Washington?" Ashley changed the subject, "I don't see how he could be the mole?". "It's not an interrogation" Ratchet replied as he stuck the needle in Ashley's arm and filled the syringe with the glowing red hemogon, "It's just a formality the Pentagon needs him to attend: since he's in charge of the running of the base this whole conundrum falls squarely on his shoulders. Accountability is what they need from him, and apparently it can't be done over a live webcam"

"Yeah, but even so-" Ashley thought aloud

"Even so, they still have to be sure..." John laid a hand on his huge shoulder, "And getting back to the subject at hand: when will the test be done?" he looked up at the medic.

"Tomorrow afternoon at the latest; in the meantime, don't go too far" Ratchet gazed down at Ashley with a mother hen look. "Yeah whatever," the hybrid waved off nonchalantly as he got up and jumped off the desk, "Catch ya later dad" he called over his shoulder as he strolled out the door on all fours with his tail high in the air like a contented cat.

His father couldn't help but smile as he watched him disappear down the corridor: "Much like yourself when you were his age, hm?" Ravage asked offhand, as he sensed John's feelings of nostalgia ripple across the front of his mind for a brief moment. "I wasn't one to listen to doctors much either. As long as I was told I wasn't going to kick the bucket anytime soon, anything else really didn't matter..." But the smile faded as the reality of the here and now came back to mind, "...But: saying that. I know he's gotten used to being-, 'different', but even so, the seriousness is starting to grow boring on him, to the point it's becoming blase...I'd prefer it if he were a little more worried about this" he thought aloud.

"He _is _worried about it" Ravage replied: "I sense his unease of the unknown every day; he just doesn't want _you_ to worry too much: for fear it will eat you up from the inside out"

John looked at the panther, a little taken aback: "...Why hasn't he said anything?" he pressed him.

"Because he thinks that if he confides in you about it, you're going to assume the worst; and somehow, he may be right" the panther offered, "I've sensed you're fear too: and as a creator, it's double the concern for you because of your parental obligations"

"I couldn't call myself a father if I didn't" John stated frankly

"True. But for this; I would recommend that you reassure him you're both in the same place: and equally worried. He knows in the back of his mind that you know in your own way: but even so, there comes a time when those suspicions have to be validated with words, and not just simply implied"

John paused a moment as he thought about it: "I'll talk to him about later...by the way," he glanced at the panther with a suspicious look, "How deeply do you read everyone's minds?"

"Only what comes to the surface. Believe me; you don't have to probe too far to learn what you need to know..." Ravage smiled as he bounded off the desk and paced out the door, "It's a question of how disciplined your focus is, and not letting idle thoughts run away" he added.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the training room:

"This time, you're MINE!-" Firefly bellowed as she took a running leap; her guns flared to life as she attacked her target and went in for the kill...

"Oh really?" Ironhide casually glanced sideways at her as he grabbed her by the throat cables, and with a solid pitcher's throw, hurled her against the wall with hardly any effort. The young femme barely had time to reboot her gyroscopic sensors before Kup aimed his cannon right at her face, and let out an annoyed huff of disappointment: "Now, care to tell me why you're dead?"

Shooting him a disgruntled look, Firefly got up and dusted herself off as she put her guns away; too peeved to want to give an articulate answer.

"He asked you a question youngling, where did you trip up?" Ironhide pressed her, as he strode up alongside: letting his sheer bulk tell her he was in no mood for her attitude. Letting out a frustrated huff through her vents, Firefly reluctantly admitted: "...When I forgot to scan your systems for the cable-to-piston ratio"

"When you forgot to scan my systems for the cable-to-piston ratio," Ironhide repeated, trying to drive the point home: "It doesn't take a lot for an opponent to turn the fight in their favor, and if they've got the strength to do a better job than their guns can, _they'll do it!_ Scanning them for any and all inherent weaknesses is mandatory, _before_ you engage!" he sternly stated

"Seriously kid," Kup offered, "How can you expect to return to active duty, if you keep running in half-cocked like this?"

Firefly didn't reply, and simply dropped her gaze to the ground.

"Look, we ain't doin' this for kicks, you're in training for your own good, as well as everyone else's!" the ancient Autobot warrior pressed on her, "This is the _fifth time_ in as many days you've failed this basic exercise alone, what does that say about you?"

"It's not _my_ attitude that's the problem, it's my tolerance for being bull-slagged around like this that get's my diodes!" Firefly shot back; bristling with annoyance, Ironhide was about to rip her a new one, when Kup moved between them to stop him. "Perhaps a break is in order? We've been at this since sun-up, maybe we should cool off and try again later" Kup suggested. Deciding she wasn't worth it, Ironhide stormed out of the training room, muttering a string of cybertronian curses as he left; Kup was about to follow after him, when he stopped and glanced at the younger femme with a stern gaze: "For the record, it ain't our time you're wasting, kid. You keep this up and you _won't be an Autobot_, let alone anything else. You might wanna think about that the next time you give us ol' timers a hard time" he stated as he turned and left the room. After the huge sliding doors slammed shut, Firefly let her shoulder's go slack as she let out a frustrated sigh.

"You know, he does have a point" Jetfire's voiced echoed out from above.

"Wha-" Firefly spun around, and spotted the old seeker sitting on part of the elevated platforms (the ones used as part of the full-scale battle simulations) like a raven; getting up from his perch and stretching out his limbs, he jumped down with a sharp CLANG!, and wandered over to her side. "...How long have you been there?" she asked.

"A little while, I came off duty from the brig twenty minutes ago; thought I'd come and check out how you were doing. Seems like you still haven't quite mastered the concept of respecting your elders" he observed

"...I just don't get it" Firefly admitted, "I _know_ how to fight, I've fought loads'a times before; so why's this so fraggin' hard?"

"_All_ younglings your age think they know everything there is to know: it ain't nothing new" Jetfire offered, "You're at that age your discovering the freedoms of being a grown-up, coupled with the care-freeness of what's left of your lingering sparkling-hood. But you_ don't _want the responsibility that comes with being an adult"

"I guess? I don't know" Firefly shrugged "To be honest; I don't see what's the point of this? The war's over so why carry on with training at all? It's not like the humans can put up much of a fight (if they turned on us) they'd be totally out-gunned"

Jetfire let out a long-drawn sigh before replying: "Youngling, if there's one lesson I've learnt the hard way, it's that you _never underestimate anyone_: regardless of their size or physical capabilities. True, humans and their technology are 'primitive' in a number of ways; but I've seen their courage and spirit in action, and I have no doubt, they could wipe us all out, if they so choose to... And besides, just because the Allspark and Cybertron are gone, doesn't mean the war's over. As far as the Decepticons are concerned, now that the objective for the fighting is out of the picture: this is the time when old scores are settled, old dept's repaid. And every drop of spilt energon avenged in full; post-war is as risky as live combat itself, and we have to be sure you can measure up to the demands that those circumstances call for"

"Yeah, I get that-" Firefly tried to explain: "-_Do you?_" Jetfire stopped her in her tracks, "If you _really _understand the value of these training lessons, then why do you resist?"

Firefly didn't know, and thus, found she couldn't drum up a valid enough excuse.

"...Take it from an old pro youngling," the old seeker sighed as he laid a hand on her shoulder plate, "Just suck it in, and go with it: you'll get through it"

"But-, what about Ironhide? He hardly ever listen's to me: he's a complete slag-head!"

"_It's his job_ to be a slag-head: he wouldn't be as good as he is if he wasn't" Jetfire smirked, "...Still: I'll have a word with him, let him know what it's like from your point of view. Though you'll have to forgive him; us ol' bots? When you get to our age, the memory of youth is but a glitched piece of data in your memory banks: we can sometimes forget you actually need time to _learn _stuff"

"...Thanks" Firefly replied with a small smile

"Ah don't thank me, just stick to your training and don't give him such a hard time, okay?"

"I'll-, try" she replied sheepishly

"Alright, now off you go" he gestured to the door. As they both left the training room, Firefly saw her sister's approaching: obviously looking for her.

"Well? How'd it go?" Bluebird asked eagerly. Although she wasn't as peeved off as before, Firefly still wasn't in the mood to talk, and with an apologetic look, simply walked away in the other direction. Knowing that was her more polite way of saying 'I don't want to talk about it', the three sisters's approached Jetfire.

"How did she do?" Bluebird asked concernedly: the seeker simply gave her disappointed look, and sighed.

"This isn't good" Tangostar sighed, "That's the fifth time in as many days!"

"She knows that," Jetfire replied, "She just hasn't learnt the full meaning of patience yet: and I can't say Ironhide's making it easy on her"

"Well, when she get's eaten up by an Insecticon, she better not come crying to me" Veebee stated as she folded her arms.

"It's not a question of just 'wising up' on the spot and finally 'getting it': she needs incentive; something that'll knock some sense into her. Though, considering her stubbornness and defiance, I can't think of _anything_ that would sway her" the seeker thought aloud.

"I don't want to see her fail" Bluebird sulked

"Neither do I; like I said, she just needs some incentive" Jetfire assured her.

Some way down the corridor: as Firefly slowly walked along, dragging her heels, as familiar face came bounding down the corridor like a cat high on catnip: "'FLY!" Lizzy beamed with joy, "You finally outta training? I've been waiting for you all morning!"

Lizzy was someone Firefly_ had_ wanted to see all morning, and with a renewed sense of positivity, Firefly scooped up the teenage hellion in one hand and smiled: "Me too, let's blow this place: I need to go for a drive" she replied as she transformed, collapsing into her altmode while simultaneously maneuvering Lizzy so she came to sit in her driver's seat (a fancy little parlor trick they'd picked up from watching Sam and Bumblebee), much to the teen's delight. And together, they sped off.

* * *

Elsewhere on the base:

"Well, today's session has been an engaging one: and I'd say we've made some real progress" Portia smiled as she opened the door of her office, letting Crystalwing and her children file out into the corridor. "Indeed" Crystalwing smiled back, before dropping her gaze in ruefulness "Though, it would've been a little more complete if-..."

Through their telepathic bond, the siblings all knew who she was talking about, and shared their mother's disappointment; "This is the third appointment she's missed this week" Acidwing pointed out.

"Maybe she just forgot the time?" Sparklestar threw in

"Oh she_ knows_ what time she's supposed to show up, she just doesn't want to come anymore" Acidwing replied sarcastically.

"I have to admit, this has been rather tardy of her: once is forgivable, second time around is questionable, but three times? She's doing it deliberately" Shiningstar offered sheepishly. Extending her telepathy outwards like a sonar ping: Crystalwing scanned every mind on the base, until she soon spotted who she was looking for: the mind of the individual in question sensed her, and so moved further away to avoid her. "She's in one of the storage hangers on level three; I'll call her back" Crystalwing said.

"Actually, perhaps I better talk to her; if she's in one of her moods she may not want to be so engaging with you" Portia pointed out.

"Fair enough, we'll wait here" Crystalwing sighed

After transforming her legs into her abdomen, Portia scuttled off along the ceiling; "Wait! I'm coming too!" Shiningstar called after her as she galloped after the spider femme: "Suit yourself, but I doubt she's going to be a good mood" Portia pointed out. "Considering all the attitude she's given us these past two weeks, she'll be one to talk if she say's anything about _us_ again!" the blue and white sphinx frowned as she kept pace.

Ten minutes of traversing the maze of corridors and one elevator ride soon brought them to their destination; one of the larger underground hangers, filled to the ceiling with tall stacks of crates and other large containers. And sitting atop one of the larger containers, right near the back of the hanger: Shadowstar was lying on her side, facing the wall, seeming unconcerned about her uninvited guests. Jumping down from the ceiling onto a large broad crate, Portia stood there as Shiningstar jumped up to her side.

"Let me guess: I missed another appointment, didn't I?" Shadowstar sarcastically drolled, deliberately rubbing it in; Shiningstar frowned in annoyance, but said nothing; she wasn't going to let her sister have any ammunition for another fight. "Third one this week; this isn't good Shadow', and there's nothing to gain from this show of defiance" Portia stated in her usual cool, professional manner.

"Who said I was being defiant? I simply got bored" Shadowstar stated, flicking her tail back and forth in annoyance.

"Shadow, this isn't some debriefing on how to handle a new weapon; this is for _your_ benefit. As well as ours" Shiningstar pointed out

But Shadowstar didn't reply

Thinking back over the last few weeks: Shiningstar, for the spark of her, couldn't understand why her sister was still being so difficult. Integrating back into her family's telepathic bond had been anything but easy: while she allowed the direct link to be re-established, she still kept her mind closed up and inaccessible. Now, whenever her mother and siblings telepathically communicated back and forth between one another, she was like a shadow without a master amid their presence: still there and noticeable, but trying desperately to remain concealed and untouchable. After what went down between her and Ashley, Shiningstar thought she would've learnt something by now, and the psychiatric therapy sessions with Portia should've driven the point home even more. But for some reason that was beyond her knowledge and understanding, Shadowstar _still_ refused help, and refused to see sense even more.

"You do realize that if you continue this trend, I'll have to report it to Majestrix" Portia added

"Fine" Shadowstar replied nonchalantly

"Shadow' this is pointless. We both know that returning to the bond is the only way you'll get better: why are you still closing yourself off like this?" her sister demanded.

"Seriously? You're still asking _why?_" Shadowstar sarcastically stated.

Knowing full well what she was referring to, Shiningstar frowned in the upmost annoyance; her mother sent soothing waves of reassurance down the bond, and told her it wasn't worth it; "Fine. You want to keep believing that? Go ahead: I'm not wasting my time on you if you're going to keep displacing your anger like this" Shiningstar growled: leaping off the box, and angrily pacing out the door.

"Well, if you miss tomorrow's appointment-", "-Save it," Shadowstar interrupted Portia. "I'm done with your tiresome lectures: you and mother can go blow it out of your exhaust pipes for all I care. I just want to be left alone" she added in a cold tone. Knowing she wasn't going to sway her, Portia let out a disappointed sigh, and quietly left the hanger. Shadowstar swivelled her ears as she listened to her sister and therapist walk down the corridor in silence, heard the bot-sized elevator ping, open up, and close again as they left the level.

Listening all around, she relaxed as the whole level was completely enveloped in silence, not a sound could be heard, save for the gentle whirring of the air ventilation system...

...And the soft sound of giant footfalls quietly approaching the door...

Her ears pressed back against her head in annoyance, and her tail flicked faster as the stranger approached her from behind.

"_What do you want now?_" she growled in annoyance.

* * *

Sometime later, in the command center:

"I take it the inspection went as planned?" Bishop asked through the main monitor.

"Thus far; the guys from Washington said the data was substantial enough: in any case, no evidence of duplication could be detected in the software, and the hard-drives show no evidence of tampering" Epps reported

"That's good: at least the B-class files are all secure, now there's just the rest of the base to go through" the Colonel sighed

"I don't get it sir, why'd they have to call you back to Washington? It's not like there's been anything direct goin' down. That'd be the last thing the mole would attempt to do" Epps asked offhand

"I know: it's a redundant theory to me too; but you know what the top brass are like when it comes to accountability on the commanding officer's part: it's just a few more days of asking questions and useless paperwork, and I'll be right back before you know it. In the meantime, have the inspectors been prying into the restricted sectors of the base?" Bishop asked

"Thankfully no, I think they know those areas are out of bounds, but still: they've been taking their sweet time with this whole inspection. As if somehow, _we're all_ to blame"

"It's just a pressure tactic to try and catch you off guard. Stick to your assignment and answer their questions. They'll be gone by lunchtime anyway. Bishop out" the colonel replied, before the live feed went offline

Turning back to where Optimus and Majestrix were standing behind him, Epps looked up at them with an unsure expression, and asked in equal uncertainty: "So? Now that this is the last day of the inspection, how do we try to root out the mole?"

"I've been working up some scenarios with the simulators, but it won't be a hundred percent guarantee" Majestrix offered

"Ultimately, it will fall to Major Lennox to search among his team for the perpetrator; this is a tough decision, I know. But right now, we have very few other options" Prime stated in a grave tone, "Where is Major Lennox anyway?"

"Gone to lunch" Epps replied

* * *

At the same time, outside the base:

In the cool shade of the hangout, away from the base and the annoying antics of the Chevy and Lambo twins; Bluestreak, along with his charges, were enjoying the lunch hour with Trailbreaker, and his respective charge Darren, and all seven of his female cousins: along with Skywarp and Novastar, who had both volunteered for babysitting Jay-jay for the afternoon. As the midday heat beat down on the dry dusty ground, the humans all flopped around in idle boredom: until the sound of heavy footstep's grabbed their attention, and Ironhide appeared with Will and his daughter Annabelle sitting on his shoulder.

"Yo Will!" Darren smiled, "Park it here dude!" pointing to the bolder next the Bluestreak.

"Don't mind if I do..." Ironhide smiled as he sat down next to the young gunner, and let his charges down so they could find a seat.

"What brings you guys out here?" Max asked as she sat upright

"Lunch," Will smiled as he handed Annabelle her lunchbox, and he opened the brown paper bag he'd been carrying, "And trying to avoid the inspectors"

"Those guys _still _haven't left yet?" Darren raised an eyebrow

"Should be leaving at one today, though judging by the way they've been snooping around, I think leaving is the _last thing_ on their minds" the Major frowned as he tucked into his BLT baguette.

"As long as it means we don't have to stay cooped up in that base anymore!" Roxy huffed

"Yeah, being a 'classified person of interest' sucks" Rosy concurred in equal displeasure, to which the rest of her sister's voiced their agreements.

It had been two weeks since the Ainslie girls had moved onto the base: and contrary to everyone's expectations, their prior attitudes had changed somewhat. After the night of their near-death experience with the Tranquility Stalker, the girls had seemed to have learnt some much needed valuable lessons: for instance, they didn't argue as aggressively or frequently as before; of course there were the occasional sibling rivalries here and there, but for the most part they were seeing eye to eye on a lot of things, where as compared to before, when they would look for any excuse to have a go at each other. Roxy and Max in particular were much more at ease with one other: the whole 'frenemies' concept was lost on everyone (save a handful of individuals who were street smart) and for the most part, the girls maintained their 'standoffish' approach to one other, even though they didn't beat the crap out of each other anymore (which was still rather confusing to say the least).

Their attitude towards everyone else on the base had pacified too, Roxy had learnt to not speak her mind so brazenly (90% of the time at least), and Max, for her part, had tried to make amends to those she hurt; it wasn't an easy learning curb, and the first week had been awkward to say the least (with everyone of the opinion she was still not trustworthy). But when Lennox saw she was really trying, he decided to lighten her burden by burying the hatchet, and the two of them were cool with one another: and by extension, the subject of her burglarizing his home wasn't brought up in open conversation again.

However, it hadn't been so straightforward in every regard: Lizzy was still as zealous as ever, and with Firefly of a similar mentality, the two of them together had become the most dreaded paring since the Lambo twins. However, being in the company of fellow pranksters like the Lambo and Chevy twins had led to a somewhat unexpected outcome. Like placing a young wolf pup in with a pack of older wolves, the 'more dominant' pranksters, had put the teenage hellion and her partner-in-crime in their place; in as much they didn't attempt anything as ambitious as the failed prank that caught Majestrix out again, and they learnt the hard way that you _never_ play a prankster at his own game. Still, nothing of any great concern had gone down, and with Firefly in training more often than not, the two troublemakers hadn't caused as much trouble as they had liked.

But with the possibility a human mole being on the base hanging over NEST like a dark cloud; it wasn't all fun and games for everyone, the humans in particular had been feeling the atmosphere of doubt and suspicion. Who could it be? The commanding officer? The guy who had your back in a fight? The guys you play poker with when off duty? It could be anyone: and while the NEST troops were trying not to let the air of suspicion lead to a witch-hunt, it was hard to ignore the reserved sense of doubt and second guesses; the what-if's and the maybes were starting to grow. But with two weeks of inactivity from Barricade and the other cons, and no other incidences of any kind: everyone was tempted to let wishful thinking tell them it might be just a fluke. But the events of two weeks ago, always brought reality back into perspective; and so, as the Pentagon's inspectors went about their work, everyone was left to wonder, why? And who?

"That reminds me, how the hell did you guys managed to sneak out here without being seen anyway?" the Major shot them all a weird look

"Uh, hello? Teleporter sitting right here" Skywarp pointed to himself in a droll tone

"Oh, yeah right..." the Major realized, to which everyone couldn't help but giggle; "Anyway, what're you all doing out here? Did Sideswipe put another rotten egg in the vents again?"

"Nah, just needed to be reminded of what fresh air actually smells like" Max drolled

"Come on, it hasn't been _that_ boring while the inspectors have been around? You had that DDR dance-off with Miles and Glen yesterday" Will pointed out

"Yeah, right up until Roxy made a comment about Sunny's aft, which _he _took as a personal challenge to his stamina, and he broke the damn machine when he tried break-dancing at three hundred RPM's a second" Darren drolled, shooting Roxy a reprimanding look.

"What? I wasn't even being serious: it's not my fault the guy can't take a joke" she retorted defensively

"Well? The day before that, you made a water park out of the wash racks" Lennox offered

"Yeah that was fun, until Allie challenged Warpath and Hound to a cannon-ball diving contest" Jeanie pointed out, "Splashed _me_ and Rosy clean outta the pool, and flooded half of the second level" Chelsea added

"Huh, I wondered why the floor on that level was wet" Ironhide suddenly realized

"Look, the base is impressive and you guys have some pretty cool stuff to play with, but we didn't expect to do so much in two weeks. Now, I don't know what's left to do?" Jeanie stated

"Easy for you to say, I've been busting' my ass doing chores as part of my parole" Max retorted "Not that I'm complaining: but it ain't all fun an' games for all of us, okay?"

"Sorry" Jeanie sighed, "Kinda forgot about that"

"Why don't you take some time off?" Will suggested; at that, the girls all sat up and stared at him in slight surprise: "Huh?" they all echoed

"Well, I've been talking to Prowl, and he tells me you've been doing real good at your parole: so good in fact, that as a reward, you can have tomorrow and the day after off" the Major smiled

"What?" Chelsea blinked in surprise; "The _whole weekend_, off?" Max gawked

"That's what he said"

"SWEET!" Chelsea fist-pumped the air. "Wow, thanks" Max smiled

"Don't thank me: though, Prowl's too modest to accept compliments let alone thanks. Just report back to him on Monday and it'll be good enough for him" Will added

"Cool, the whole gang's back together for one weekend. That still doesn't resolve our boredom issue" Roxy deadpanned

"Why don't you try something new?"

"Like what?" Rosy raised a quizzical eyebrow

"I dunno, camping?" Will shrugged

"CAMPING?!" the sisters and cousins gasped,

"Yeah! We go camping all the time back home! It's loads'a fun!" Annabelle beamed"

"Camping? You mean like: out in the wild, no indoor plumbing and wiping yourself with a leaf camping?!" Roxy asking, hoping it wasn't true.

"Well? I wouldn't go as far as _that_, but the no indoor plumbing part, yep"

But before Roxy, Rosy and Max had a chance to voice their disgust, Jeanie beat them to it: "That sounds awesome! We've never been on a proper camping trip before"

"We've been camping before; we could show you how it's done" the Waineright twins chimed

"What's a 'camping' anyway?" Sparklestar asked as she came bounding over the boulders and bounced up to Bluestreak's side, "I dunno what it is but it sounds cool!"

"Can I go too daddy?! Pleasepleasepleasepleeeeeeaase?!" Annabelle begged as she bounced up and down on her behind.

"I wanna go campy!" Jay-jay beamed: "Well if Jay-jay wants to go, I better go too" Hailey said; "That means we go too" Bluestreak smiled up at Skywarp, "Wait-, what do you mean 'we'?" the seeker shot the gunner a weird look, "Well, your her co-guardian, that means you go too" Bluestreak smiled, realizing her was right, the seeker folded his arms and huffed in annoyance, to which Novastar lent him a sympathetic look and a pat on the shoulder.

"You guys are going camping?!" Lizzy beamed as she poked her head over the top of the cave, and gazed down at the taken-aback crowd below

"Apparently: and _you're_ not invited!" Roxy shouted up at them

"Aw why not?" Firefly sulked as she popped up next to Lizzy

"Because you two will ruin it somehow!" the elder Ainslie sister deadpanned

"No we wouldn't!" Firefly retorted stubbornly as she grabbed Lizzy and forward-flipped over the edge of the rock-face, landing square on her feet in front of everyone; "Come Roxy! We never been camping before! I promise we'll be good!" Lizzy pleaded

"HA! If I had a dime for every time I heard that from you, I could'a bought my own tropical island!" Roxy scoffed

"Take them with you" Ironhide threw in nonchalantly

"What?"

"A few days camping makes for a good character-building exercise" the weapons expert stated matter-of-factly; "You just want her gone so you can treat Chromia to a romantic weekend" Will deadpanned, shooting his guardian a knowing yet cheeky look. "Yes" Ironhide admitted, "And, having a break from you two you would be a nice reprieve" he added in a droll tone

"So? That means no training for a full two day?" Firefly asked, Ironhide simply looked at her as if to say: 'yes, it does'. "SWEET! When're we going?!" she eagerly asked the humans.

"Hang on: do we even know where we're _going?_" Chelsea asked

"Not to mention equipment, we ain't got nothin'!" Rosy added

"Wait a minute, you don't have to pitch up at the end of the earth or take the whole base with you just to go camping" Will offered, before the girls had a chance to panic

"Okay. Then what do _you_ suggest?" Roxy asked

"Alright: there's a spot on the western side of the reservoir, south of the rattler gorge: it's just ten miles from the base, and if you need help, there's a guard-tower several clicks away who can keep an eye on you. And don't worry about equipment, we got enough of it back at the base. Sound good?" he offered with a smile. As the camping party began going into further detail on the subject, Trailbreaker leaned down to Darren and asked in a hushed voice: "You okay with this?"

"Meh, I don't see how they could screw this up" the teen hacker shrugged, "Besides, any two days away from them is a good enough break; besides, what's the worst that could happen?" he smiled up at his guardian

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the base, down in the rec-room:

As he watched the flow of bots and humans in and out of the canteen area, Deathshot was just about to comm Velocity, when said femme arrived with two cubes of energon in hand. She placed one down in front of the sniper, and took sip of her own.

"I was beginning to wonder where you'd gotten to," he asked nonchalantly

"Sorry, I had some details to wrap up" she offered with a smile, "In any case, thanks for coming"

"Almost didn't..." the sniper replied: the displeased tone in his voice wasn't lost on her, and she knew he wasn't keen on this; "What do you want from me?" he added, getting straight to the point.

Velocity paused a moment, before replying in an honest tone: "Nothing...Just, a chance"

"A chance?" he raised an optic ridge, "For what?"

"To make up for past mistakes..." she sighed, "Deathshot, a lot has changed since end of the war, and: _we've_ changed too, for the most part...I know what went between us-, _before_, was wrong; and since then I didn't do much to improve on it. Including, the way I treated everyone when I awoke from stasis; and _especially _your charges"

"That's an understatement" he coldly replied

"Please, I'm not asking for forgiveness; and knowing you I know you're not the type to forgive anyway" she pleaded softly, "All I'm asking for, is that I have a chance to start over, try and atone for my mistakes and do better on my choices. Is that so much to ask for?"

Deathshot gazed at her for a moment, as he contemplated what she was saying, and what she was really thinking...

_I know you're not the type to forgive_

Those words stilled his mind for an instant, as he recalled his life as an agent of the 9; back when he was that mech that showed no mercy to anyone, or wouldn't forgive even the slightest indiscretion. After all his years of suffering and self-torture, and the lifetime he'd spent seeking redemption for past sins, was he so arrogant to hold onto a past grudge, that he was willing to dismiss the present? And not let bygones be bygones? For all he knew, maybe she really did have a change of spark? Who was he to say who was capable of learning right from wrong?

With a small sigh, he replied in a lighter voice: "No, it's not". Velocity smiled in thanks, and took another sip of her cube. "Listen, Ashley's going on a night-time training exercise with Ravage; would you like to come along? We can talk some then" he offered

"I'll be there" she smiled, she was about to say something else when a beeping sound emanated from the side of her head: "What? Already?" she said offhand, before heaving a sigh of frustration.

"Something come up?" Deathshot asked

"Yeah, I gotta go, sorry" she apologized

"Don't be, I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay; later" she waved goodbye: left her cube on the side, and headed out the door; leaving Deathshot to contemplate their brief encounter...

...Some way down the corridor, well out of range of the rec-room, Velocity slowed her pace, and a small sly grin crossed her lips 'It's coming together nicely' she thought to herself.

* * *

A few hours later, in the equipment and supply department:

"Okay, I think that's everything" Allie checked her backpack

"_Everything_, everything?" Jeanie interrupted, as she handed Allie her sleeping bag

As the rest of the party checked and double checked their equipment and supplies; Ironhide pulled Firefly aside for a privet chat: "Now look, while I have no gripes with you going off into the wild for a few days. I want you to take this opportunity to think seriously about the training and where you're heading with it: I don't push you 'cuz I get a kick out of it, it's so you'll learn how to go into battle and not return as scrap metal. And if you _truly_ want to be an Autobot, you've got to be willing to go all the way to the limit, cuz I can tell you right now, the enemy _won't _be returning any favors" he told her; for once (and somewhat to his surprise) Firefly didn't argue back, and simply nodded. "Just-, think about it, okay?" he added.

"So? Everyone ready to go?" Bluestreak smiled, to which a resounding yes, went around the room.

"Okay then, off we go" the gunner smiled as he lead the way out of the hanger, out into the desert with the humans forming a line, with Skywarp bringing up the rear.

"Think she'll contemplate it?" Will asked from where he'd been standing behind his guardian's foot

"I doubt it" he grunted as he folded his arms, "But still; I couldn't call myself a good trainer if I didn't impart _some _level of wisdom"

"She'll be fine" Jetfire said as he poked his head into the hanger; "In any case, something's got to give with her eventually, just give her time: you'll see"

"You said that about Sideswipe, and _how old_ is he now?" Ironhide drolled, to which the look of all-knowing wisdom on Jetfire's face fell flatter than a popped balloon, "Good point" the seeker deadpanned. Ironhide's own deadpan look only grew sour when he heard his charge trying to stifle his giggles behind him.

* * *

Meanwhile, aboard the Black Solstus:

"I just don't know what to do with her" Crystalwing sighed, "its bad enough she wouldn't open up _during_ the sessions, but now she refuses to attend at all"

"My sympathies are with you Crystal'" Majestrix sighed as she went about her work, "But my ruling on Shadowstar still stands, if she does not attend the therapy that has been prescribed, she _will_ go back in the brig. I'm am truly sorry my friend, but the safety of the base must come first, and if she tried to attack the humans once, I won't take any chances by letting her have another opportunity to attempt it again"

"I know..." Crystalwing sighed ruefully, "I just don't understand why she's doing this? And it's not like Portia and I have many other options at our disposal"

"I know, but you have to admit, these _are_ exceptional circumstances: and where there the necessary data on such a dilemma, we might have a more accurate picture on our range of choices" Majestrix replied

"True enough" Crystalwing replied as she left the room; at the same time, Blackshot entered and presents a small collection of data pads to the Prima. "The data you require on the test flight?" she said

"Ah yes," Majestrix replied as she took the pads off her and flicked though the data on each one, "I trust the sensors collected everything?"

"Everything. Except the primary data on the flight schematics, I kept those off of Teletran's network...just in case" the black femme replied in her cool professional manner; Majestrix looked up at her for a moment, before replying: "Under the circumstances, that was probably a wise idea"

"In case of prying optics? ..." Blackshot suggested. Majestrix stopped reading, and turned to face her SIC face on: "Would I be inaccurate in assuming you feel justified in some small manner?" she asked in a dubious tone.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't. A faction of humans has acquired our technology and learnt how to use it; that doesn't bother you?" Blackshot asked

"Of course it bothers me, but what bothers me _even more_ is how they acquired the data in the first place!" Majestrix retorted

"That's moot, but don't you think it's a little too convenient that it's the humans who are conducting the so called 'investigation' for the mole, if there ever was a mole in the first place?" Blackshot frowned,

"Of course I'm aware of that, and so is Prime" Majestrix replied

"But, then why didn't he say anything when the inspectors first arrived?"

"Because his hands are tied, as are mine" the Prima sighed in frustration, "Under article twenty seven of the Alien/Autobot Cooperation Act: if any human organization or faction separate from the United States Military force acquires cybertronian technology without expressed permission of the Autobots, the Pentagon and Presidential Administration is obliged to investigate and apprehend the humans responsible...We don't get a say in the matter, because they fear our means of investigation might lead to a breach of national security, (as if we don't know how to hide in plain sight)"

"That's not very reassuring" Blackshot replied, "'any human organization or faction separate from the United States Military?' What is there to say the military might not be behind it some way?"

Majestrix stared at her in surprise; somewhat taken aback that she'd suggest such a thing.

* * *

Elsewhere, somewhere amid the southern Sierra Mountain range:

"Lord Chumley sir, we've just had confirmation from CaerusTech: the Decepticons are inbound and will be making planetfall tonight" a man with a British accent replied as he poked his head into the tent

"Ah! Excellent! Bang on time!" Lord Chumley smiled as he readied his weapons

"Very good; what are your order's now sir? Only, these 'other' chaps out here are starting to get a little twitchy"

"Tell Berkley and Higgins to ready the 'honey trap': can't go hunting without leaving the traps unbaited, can we? And tell the lads top start preparing for the 'first phase' of the hunt; we're going to need to keep our wits about us, considering who our target is. Tell them to move the equipment out and start setting it up at the designated key locations: I'll be along shortly to oversee phase two"

"If I may be so bold as to ask, _what is_ phase two sir?" the man asked

Chumley turned and looked at him, and smiled: "Like I said Rollins: If you want to catch something, you have to bait the trap"

* * *

**Hello again! :D Sorry it's been a while, but I got hung up on a particularly tricky crochet project; but it's all did & done, so now, back to the story! :D**

**A/N: Just a small note to keep in mind, while this story picks up from where Lemons and Cherries left off, are are some aspects of this story that pick up from after After The Storm, so just in case some parts here and there don't make sense, you might want to go back and read that story to get up to speed :) **

**Hope you enjoyed, & please remember to R&R! :)  
**


	3. Chpt 2: Taken

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

* * *

HUNTERS MOON

Chapter 2: Taken

8:25pm, 1000 miles above California:

**: Four hundred and closing, we're in range boss! :**

**: Good, stay on them and duplicate their entry course, we'll crash on top of them if we have to:**

**: Just so you know? Their heading right for the bot's front door: **

**: Even better, we can say hi to our old friend Optimus, as soon as we're done eating:**

**: That's not all, checkout who else is down there...See that ship on the long-range scanner? Look familiar? :**

**: Oh...Oh **_**this is**_** going to be interesting...:**

**: Undoubtedly, but unfortunately we can't follow the bugs all the way down; we gotta avoid those satellites in low orbit, so we'll have to go eastwards for a clear landing: **

**: Whatever: just make sure we land close enough to pick up their trail:**

**: And what if the bots get in the way? :**

**: Optimus knows better than to get in**_** my**_** way. After what happened the last time we met; well, let's just say: if any of his whelps feel the need to be heroic, then at least that's dessert taken care of:**

* * *

At the same time, 1000 miles below on NEST base, two miles west of the Western mountain:

"Where is she?" Deathshot muttered to himself as he checked his chronometer for the third time.

"Who?" Danny asked offhand

"Velocity, she was meant to meet us out here for the exercise"

"She didn't show up?" Tom raised an eyebrow

"Maybe she's busy? She _did_ say she had several errands to run tonight" Morri pointed out

"Hm" the sniper sighed, "Guess we'll have to take a rain-check...Well, we can't stand out here all evening. Where's Ashley and Ravage? ..." he thought aloud as he activated his left optic, and scanned the base way off in the distance; two tiny thermal signatures moving out into the desert, confirmed it was the latter: "Ah good, they've started: you three better get going, and be sure to try and go through the more dense scrub tonight. Got you're visors?"

At that, the three cousins produced from each of their pockets, a visor, with what looked like a hands-free device fused to the right side where the visor's temple tips tucked behind the ear: and a tiny optic-and-scanner-in-one set into the wide-set bridge; a little upgrade courtesy of Moonshine, who had developed the devises so the bots could receive real-time data from their human partners. The cousins slipped them on, activated the wireless signal to their CTG's, and gave a thumbs-up to indicate they were ready to go.

"Good, I'll see you back at the base" Deathshot smiled, before activating his engines, and taking off back to the base.

"Okay, so who goes where tonight?" Morri asked

"Well? Tom took the mountain last time, so it's my turn I guess?" Danny shrugged

"I don't mind, I can head north towards the forty-fifth guard tower" Tom replied

"Okay, then in that case I guess I'll head west towards the reservoir" Morri shrugged

"The reservoir? But that's _miles_ away" Danny pointed out

"So? We've got all night, we're in no hurry: and besides, I got my hiking boots on tonight so I'm good for a long walk" she smiled, "Just be careful and watch out for the coyotes, okay?" she waved goodbye as she set off westwards, towards the northern foot of the mountain.

"Okay, but you're getting breakfast tomorrow!" Tom called after her, before he and Danny went their separate ways, and disappeared out into the thick scrub and scattered boulders.

* * *

Meanwhile: several miles west, and ten miles north of the base:

"Rosy? Aren't you gonna put up your tent?" Hailey asked

"Uh, I did" Rosy pointed to, what had been her best (and failed) attempt to put a tent up: rolling her eyes, Hailey dropped what she was doing, and went about correcting the entangled ropes and support posts. "Sorry, I never done this before" she said offhand, feeling rather sheepish. "First time for everything" Hailey smiled, "But it ain't rocket science, okay?"

"Well I want to know, whose bright idea it was to walk all the way out here!" Roxy grumbled as she rubbed her aching feet.

"Uh, _all of us?,_" Jeanie deadpanned, "We all agreed we were gonna do this before we left. You know? Experience the full outdoor's the old fashioned way?"

"Yeah? Well the old fashioned way sucks!" Lizzy whined, "I got blisters in places I never knew I had!"

"Speak for yourself: I got dirt in my rims!" Firefly huffed

"Quit you're whining, just be thankful it wasn't outside Geo's hole" Max interjected, to which most of the other's voiced their agreement, and Roxy and Lizzy promptly dropped the subject. As she crawled out of her tent, Annabelle noticed Sparklestar sitting on a rock looking skyward with a glazed look in her optics, as if she were in some kind of meditative state. Curious, she approached quietly, but as she stepped right next to her, the young sphinx seemed to snap out of her stupor, and blinked in surprise at seeing her there. "Oh, sorry, I didn't sense you there" she smiled sheepishly.

"Sense?" Annabelle tilted her head to one side, before she remembered Crystalwing and her whole family were telepaths.

"Yeah, I was tryin' to talk to Shadow': she's somewhere back on the base, and I can sense she's listening; but she _still_ won't talk back to me" Sparklestar sulked ruefully.

"She's still moody?" the four year old honey-blond asked

"Yeah, has been for a long time now" she explained, "Ever since daddy went to the well of all-sparks, she's been mad at mom; but she won't say why?"

Unsure how to answer that, Annabelle simply replied: "Maybe she's just grumpy 'cuz she got a time out?"

Bemused as to why she said that, Sparklestar looked her straight in the eye, and expanded her mind out to her's; although Annabelle didn't feel or sense anything, Sparklestar skimmed over the surface of her conscious awareness, and could sense she didn't comprehend what she was talking about. She was about to send a telepathic data-burst of memories to her, when her mother's presence loomed over her own consciousness, and gently stopped her: _"No sweet-spark: we don't do that to the humans" _she heard her mother's voice echoing over the bond. _"But Mom, she doesn't understand"_ Sparklestar pointed out; _"I know my darling. But it's not fair to burden her with something she doesn't understand: it will just cause her mental stress and misery. Let her learn in her own time, she'll understand these matters, one day..."_

With a frustrated sigh, the young sphinx relented: _"...Okay"_

"_Alright, now have a nice time"_ Crystalwing smiled, before her end of the bond fell dormant.

"Hey, are you okay?" Annabelle asked, noticing she'd gone into another stupor

"Um? Yeah I'm good, mom just wanted to say hi," Sparklestar waved off before changing the subject: "Hey, you wanna go sneak up on Violet with me?" she offered with a sly twinkle in her optic, and an even cheekier grin. "Definitely" Annabelle smiled with mischievous glee, and together the two youngsters began stalking towards Violet's tent. A little way away, Jeanie was just about done setting up her tent, when she looked over at Max, who had finished pitching up and had wandered a little away from the camp, and was now perched atop a bolder, looking out over the reservoir. Leaving the rest of the party to join her, Jeanie climbed up the bolder and sat down beside her, "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

"Nothin much' just enjoying the view..." Max smiled, though she knew she wasn't being honest, and so corrected the latter: "...No. Actually, I was thinking about Lennox"

"What about him?"

"...I don't get it. I stole from him, and he's forgiven me just like that? No way it's that straight forward" Max said offhand sceptically.

"It's not" Jeanie replied frankly, "After what happened up in the national park, and what happened afterwards: he figured you'd been punished enough; there really wasn't more to be said after that. But, I think he's just giving you the opportunity to discover your better side on your own terms. Try and prove himself wrong"

"Prove himself wrong?" Max echoed in confession

"Well? I was talking to Sarah the other day, and she told me Will had been kinda conflicted about the whole parole thing during the first week. On the one hand he didn't trust you to stay on the straight and narrow (given your history), but on the other? ...Well? I think something was bugging him: that if he was wrong? He wouldn't be able to forgive himself" Jeanie explained

"...How'd he figure _that _out?"

"I dunno, but Sarah mentioned something about a fight going down here on the base between a couple of the bots a while ago, that called the whole 'defectors-switching-sides' thing into question. Apparently it gave him a few things to think about, in terms of who's right it was to say who's capable of being good or bad"

"What?" Max quirked an eyebrow

"I know, it didn't make sense to me either: but you know me, I'm not one to pry" Jeanie sheepishly replied

"True, you _are _a wuss in that department" Max smiled, "But at least you know how respect that kinda thing, I kinda fall short in that regard" she sighed, to which Jeanie rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder; "You're getting there, you just keep beating yourself up too much to notice. Give yourself a chance, okay?"

Max gave a small smile, but didn't reply as she looked out across the dark sapphire water; "She's right you know?" Chelsea spoke up from where she'd been sitting at the foot of the bolder, on the water-facing side: "Clamming up and cutting yourself off from everyone isn't going to solve anything, it'll just put everything on postponement"

"Easy for you to say, everyone on this base thinks I shouldn't be back here; and maybe their right. After the trouble I caused, I got no right to beg them for forgiveness" Max thought aloud in a flat tone.

"Maybe, it's not-

"AAAIII!" Violet screamed as she flew out of her tent, followed by a giggling Sparklestar, with Annabelle riding her like a horse, and laughing like a maniac; "YOU JERKS!" Violet angrily yelled as she took off after them, chasing them between Skywarp and Bluestreak's legs as they weaved in and out of the scrub.

"How long before she kills them?" Max sighed in a droll tone

"After the beating Anny gave her last week? She knows better than to try and bump _her_ off; worst she'll do is throw another tantrum (for the umpteenth time)" Jeanie drolled, "Just let them settle this and they'll be playing again in no time"

"Just as long as she doesn't go getting any ideas again; it took me _ages_ to get all those spiders out of Violet's bed last week" Chelsea concurred

As the seven year old chased after the two youngsters through the camp, cursing and screaming her lungs out while pushing and shoving everyone aside: Firefly took the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos, and quietly slipped away with Lizzy perched on her shoulder, "So, I was thinking: stink bombs for 'Warp's thrusters, and a potato for Blue's exhaust pipe?" Lizzy smiled with her trademark mischievous grin.

"Mm-hm, sounds great" Firefly replied with a weak smile, to which Lizzy huffed in frustration: "Uhg! Okay, what gives?!"

"Huh?"

"You've been bummed out _all day_: even when we went dune-hopping together you didn't go as fast as you usually do" her partner in crime pointed out

"Oh, sorry: I just ain't been feelin' in the zone today" Firefly sighed

"Is this about the training? Did Ironhide go grinding your axle again?"

"Mm-hm, and this time he didn't even bother to shout" the green femme shrugged

"Okay, tell me when and where, and I'll get him good with my cherry-stink combo special" Lizzy stated confidently as she cracked her knuckles

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but that won't work (and besides, after the whoopee-cushion thing last week, I think he sussed out that you used the vents to get into his quarters)...No, I don't think this training thing's working out; I failed my basic close-quarter's combat assessment _five times_ now, and I _still_ can't get through even the first round...I'm wondering whether or not to request a transfer to a different trainer, or somethin' like that"

"Well if it ain't workin out for ya' why don't you just strike out and do your own thing?" Lizzy asked, "Because I _have _to pass basic training so Prime will let me rejoin the team; as it is, I can't even join in the standard weapons and combat training everyone else gets to do" Firefly huffed

"Oh," Lizzy realized, "Can't say I ever really had that problem in school: sometimes, when we got a lesson or teacher who's real boring or just an annoying ass-wipe, I'd skip school for the day. Sure I got a few tardys here and there: but hey, you can't let everyone dictate your life for you, sometimes you just gotta do things _your _way" she stated bold.

"Hey, I'm all for living my own life as much as the next free sentient being. But for as long as I can remember, the Autobots have been my _whole life_: I was an army brat sparked and raised on the third Regulon outpost, my parents were both bots, and my sisters are bots. That's a tall family tradition to live up to, and I don't intend to strike out on that"

"Okay, pretty righteous, I can appreciate that," Lizzy nodded, "But seriously? You're not doing yourself any favours by choosing family duty over your own well-being and happiness. I know you care about your sisters an' all, but one day your gonna wake up, and realize just how much you missed out: all for the sake of trying to make other people happy"

"I guess?" Firefly shrugged, "But let me ask you: do _you_ care about your sister's too? I mean, don't get me wrong, you guys are all talking to each other and you haven't fallen out in over two weeks...But, when we're not, you know? _Doing stuff_ together? I kinda get the impression you don't like to be around them"

Lizzy paused for a moment as an unreadable look came over her, and her gaze seemed to wander off towards the horizon, as she spoke what was really on her mind: "...It's not that I don't care (I _did _go back for Violet after all)...It's just-, I don't see why _I_ should spend my time listening to advice on how to live my life. It's _my life_ you know? Shouldn't I be given the option of being able to do stuff on my own? Is that so much to ask?"

Thinking about it, Firefly sighed, "...No, I guess not..."

"Look, I love them, (well? Except for Max and Chelsea, I'm still waiting to see if they really are legit) but sometimes, I feel like being part of a family is a stone around my neck..."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the base, down in the brig:

"Hey Jet's!" Sam smiled up at the old seeker as he approached the entrance to the brig, pulling a large flat trolly-cart-type contraption with two large cubes of energon sitting atop.

"Evening, and what brings you down here to this 'mausoleum'?" Jetfire drolled as he stood up from his seat to stretch his stiffened wing-joints out.

"Ration time"

"You should've made the cubes smaller, let them know we mean business by depriving them of their privileges" he grumbled

"You'll have to take that up with Ratchet"

"Eh, guess I'll have to bribe him with high-grade again," The old seeker thought aloud, "Hang on a sec' and I'll let you in..." he added as he typed in the clearance codes for the huge reinforced vault-like doors. With a sharp CLANK! the intricate internal locks inside the doors all clicked and whirred as the mechanisms shifted and realigned, and in a few seconds, the doors slowly swung open, and Sam let himself in. "Remember, don't step too near to the field generator's! that static's got a mean bite!" Jetfire added, to which Miles nonchalantly waved off.

It was quiet in the brig tonight, but then, it had been fairly quiet for the past month or so; as Sam approached the only two occupied cells, he stopped just short of where the light was cast down on the floor, so he could remain in the shadows, even though the occupant of the first cell already knew he was there... Cautiously peering around the side of the wall, being careful not to step too near the stasis field generator: Sam saw Coldbore sitting on his recharge birth, his hands sitting on his thighs, and his optic shutter's closed, as if deep in a meditative state.

"Energon's up!" he called to him; the sniper didn't move, or make any acknowledgement that he was there.

"So? Did they send you down cuz' no bots were on ration duty tonight? or simply to see how we'd react?" Longrange mockingly called out from the other cell next door,

Taking a deep breath and keeping his annoyance to himself, Sam pressed a small button next to the opening of the cell: a large tray opened out, and he put the first energon cub in; the tray slammed shut, and the sound of a mechanism could be heard on the other side of the wall paneling. Inside the cell, another tray with the cube inside opened up next to the birth, and in a slow and deliberate manner, Coldbore took the cube and quietly began to drink up it's contents.

"You're welcome?" Sam deliberately said, in a a sarcastic tone: but Coldbore didn't reply, and sat quietly with his ration, as if the human wasn't there.

"He never thanks anyone for anything: even me, despite the fact I'm the only company he's got down here..." Longrange called out. Grabbing the handle of his cart and walking down the huge corridor to the next cell along; Sam's face deadpanned into an unreadable look when he peered into the cell, and saw Longrange lounging on his birth, as if he were floating on a lilo in a pool. "But then, who am I to complain? Right?" the young sniper added mockingly.

As the incident with Thundercracker and Deathshot came back to mind, Sam suppressed the urge to make an equally mocking come-back, and went about putting the cube into the cell in silence.

"...Not talking? That's a shame, I could do with some good gossip: it's been boring as the pit down here" Longrange poked, but Sam didn't reply as he deliberately avoided eye-contact.

"Quiet you!" Jetfire's bellow echoed down the corridor

"And even more annoying with that old heap of junk guarding the door" the young sniper frowned, "At the very least you can humor me with some petty insult"

But Sam still didn't reply: and as he finished up by signing the rations log on the computer terminal at the side of the cell, he took a moment, and stood at the entrance to the cell, deliberately staring the sniper in the eye. Then, after passing a small mocking smirk, walked away with the cart in hand. Frowning in annoyance, Longrange let out a sharp sigh from his vents, somewhat defeated in not being able to have some form of amusement. After Sam left, Jetfire stepped in to conduct the final security check for the evening, and as he approached the cells, Longrange decided to try his luck again...

"So what's with the silent treatment from the meat-sack? Still holding a grudge?" he called out

"Do you _really_ have to ask?" Jetfire replied coldly

"Between trying to figure out their bio-schematics and behaviors, I honestly can't tell..." he smiled in a mockingly charming tone, "Say, when's Prime gonna get around to reviewing my parole?"

"What parole? You nearly killed Morri, and deliberately tried to kill a defector" Jetfire stated, "And even if you were, by sheer dumb luck, let out early; do you _really_ want to push your luck with Deathshot again?"

"...I _'might'_ have overreacted a little, regarding that particular altercation: but hey, it's oil under the bridge. Besides, he was just lucky that time around..."

Jetfire didn't even want to reply to that, and stayed silent as Longrange changed the subject, "Oh by the way, the Chevy idiots were on duty last night, and mouthing off to that little ground-hugging sniper wannabe; is it true there're some new femmes on the base?"

"There were four new arrivals last month, yes" the seeker stated matter-of-factly

"Flyers?"

"Terrestrial Scouts"

"Huh, and there's me thinking I might get lucky...Is it true there are some new 'pets' running around too?"

Jetfire frowned darkly, "...Yes" he replied cautiously

"Hm, rumor has it they've been causing all sorts of trouble: if that's true, you might wanna get on top of that"

"We've already taken the necessary measures for accommodating them, and it's not for _you_ to speculate on"

"Really? Because, from what I hear, you guys _really_ don't want them here: that they've been such a neusense, that you'd rather chuck them to the cons at the first opportunity, rather than have to put up with them any longer..."

Having a good idea where Longrange was going with this, Jetfire decided he'd been humored enough, and turned to leave the brig, without another word.

"When you start having pest control problems, you know where to find me!" Longrange smiled as the doors slammed shut, and the whole brig fell silent once again.

"Don't rub it in" Coldbore stated coolly

"What? Can't I have a half-decent conversation with _someone_ other than you? You're not exactly the life of the party, you know?" Longrange drolled sarcastically, to which Coldbore ignored.

"If you get too cocky again, it won't be long before the more foolhardy ones start secretly sneaking down during the graveyard shift to take pot-shots at us" he stated

"Great, at least we'll have some stimulation"

"Drawing attention to ourselves is the last thing we need...We didn't let ourselves become incarcerated because _you_ wanted some cheap thrills at the Decepticon seeker's expense; we're in here so we're out of sight, and thus, out of mind..."

* * *

Meanwhile, up in the Security Hub:

As he carefully scanned all the monitors, Red Alert's ever vigilant hawk-like optics were waiting for the slightest hint of trouble to spring up, but thus far the evening had been as quiet as the graveyard shift; nothing much out of the ordinary. On one monitor, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were observed trying to bribe Hound with high-grade for something or other in the rec-room. On another, Skids and Mudflap were hiding behind one of Prime's trailer's in the main armory hanger, ogling car magazines (whoever told them car magazines were robot-porn, had obviously succeeded in pranking them); and on another, Frenzy and Rumble were hiding in one of the computer labs, making crank-calls to various telemarketing companies (again). Other than that, not a thing was stirring.

"Jeez Red' you still as paranoid as ever?" Tangostar smirked as she walked in with a tray of energon cubes, and offered each of the security team their break-time refreshment.

"Better to be paranoid than neglectful" Red Alert stated in a flat, yet assertive tone

"That's Red' for ya," Jazz smiled as he took a cube off the tray "Ain't no mech alive who can be more paranoid, (and that's why we love him)"

"Charmed" the security officer drolled

"Still, you got to admit, there's nothing that misses _his_ optics" Novastar chimed in from where she sat across the room.

"Too damn right..." Red Alert stated in a more serious tone, as he trained his optics on one monitor, and leaned in for a closer look at the subject of his attention, "...And speaking of which: what's Blackshot doing in the main terminal interface?"

"Hmmm, let's see..." Novastar replied as she checked the duty roster for the evening, "Majestrix and Prime have her booked in for additional security maintenance-checks in that sector". Satisfied, the security officer nodded "Okay, as you were" and carried on checking all his monitors.

"Is he always like that?" Tangostar asked in a hushed tone. "Yep, pretty much" Jazz smiled, "But like I said: there ain't no one who can to a better job at security than he can; sure he gets a little wound-up at times, but that's just him. Ain't nothin personal" he assured her.

Before Tangostar could reply, an alarm sounded from one of the consoles: without wasting a second, Jazz was typing in commands to the computer, trying to ascertain what it was. "What's up?" the bright orange femme asked in concern. "The orbital proximity scanners, something big just tripped 'em" Jazz replied as he typed in another command to the mainframe, and brought up an image of the scanner and radar map. There, moving at a steady speed, approaching the earth's upper atmosphere, were a cluster of large objects.

"What are those?" she stared at the screen in bemusement.

"Don't know, but we'll soon find out," Jazz replied as he patched a comm through to Prime. **: Prime, this is Jazz, come in over? :**

**: This is Prime receiving you, over:**

**: We just picked up several large anomalies inbound planet-side, too large and too far away to be the space shuttle, and moving too fast to be a standard bot or con: **

**: What is the estimated trajectory? : **

**: Can't say for sure at this point, but it definitely looks like their gonna be touching down somewhere on the North American continent:**

**: Keep track of them and report any sudden changes. I will join you momentarily, Prime out:**

* * *

10:29pm, out in the desert:

"*phew* Not far now..." Morri smiled as she paused to get her breath back. A two hour-plus trek through the scrub and bolder fields had brought her to within visual range of the reservoir, though she was another three or so miles from the encampment. Her visor's night-vision mode had lit up the desert in a mix of inferred, thermal imagery, and real-time scanners that pointed out every nook and cranny, animal track and bio-signature, and even the tiniest variations in temperature change and wind direction. So without having to turn her torch on, Morri had wandered through the night, completely shrouded in darkness.

Turning back to scan the way she came, her visor picked up Ashley's heat-signature trotting over a rise some four miles away: "He's really catching up...Chances are, he's already figured out where I'm going" she speculated; "Oh well, might as well see if their making s'mores yet" she thought aloud, as the scent of cooked food drifted on the breeze: prompting her hunger to suggest a quick pit-stop. With a deep breath, she picked up the pace, and headed towards the predominant heat-signatures that indicated the campfire, and the three Autobots sat nearby.

Three or so miles west:

As Skywarp, Bluestreak and Firefly sat on the ground next to the fire, sipping on their energon cubes: their charge's and the rest of the party were making s'mores, and cooking burgers on the hot flat stones that they'd placed next to the flames as a make-shift grill.

"You know, this camping thing's not so bad after all" Allie thought aloud with a smile

"Only cuz we got food cooking" Roxy rolled her eyes

"It is pretty cool, chilling and sleeping with the stars overhead..." Jeanie smiled as she craned her head back to look upwards; following her cue and looking up at the night sky; the girls were amazed by the millions of stars that covered the dark indigo expanse from horizon to horizon. "Whoa, I ain't never seen _that _many star's before" Allie gasped, "That's 'cuz we live in the city with all that light pollution an' stuff, out here there ain't none of that" Chelsea replied, "It's pretty cool I guess?" Roxy shrugged; "'Is a pweety twinkly!" Jay-jay beamed as she pointed up at the Milky Way.

"Meh, when you've traveled through space enough times you get used to them" Skywarp shrugged. "So where's Cybertron up there?" Max asked, "Yeah! Where'd you guys come from?" Violet concurred enthusiastically, "Yeah! And which direction do you take to get back to Cybertron from here?" Sparklestar asked

"Hmmm, let me think..." Skywarp pondered as he scanned the various constellations, he was about to reply, when his comm opened up on his loud-speakers. **:Skywarp? Bluestreak? Firefly? Come in, over:** Prime's voice rang out,

**: Uh-, Bluestreak here: what's up boss-bot? :** The young gunner replied, slightly caught unawares.

**: Be advised, there are multiple cybertronian's inbound, approximately thirty miles north-west of your position, beyond the perimeter fence:**

**: Wha-, new arrivals? When? : **

* * *

At the same time, in the command center:

**: Any time within the next few hours, remain on stand-by and be ready to move if necessary, over: **Prime closed comm as he watched the objects moving on the scanner array; by now, his sister, as well as his officers and the human NEST team, had assembled and were watching any and all developments from the main platform of the command center's main terminal deck. Even Colonel Bishop had been summoned in Washington, and was watching the event through a live webcam feed.

: How far off are they now? : The colonel asked concernedly

"Five hundred kilometers and closing, they just missed the international space station by two hundred yards" one of the human technicians replied

: Tell NSC to put a patch through to NASA, and tell them to start prepping a cover story, those astronauts will have been pretty freaked out: Bishop ordered, "Already on it!" Darren called out from where he was working on a nearby terminal. "And I got the TV networks covered too! As far as their concerned we got an impromptu meteor shower goin' down tonight!" Glen called out from another terminal.

: Good work; I'm sorry I have to go, but I'll be on my emergency line if anything happens: Bishop out: the colonel replied before the webcam feed went off line. From where he stood out of the webcam's line of sight, John Briggs frowned in confusion: 'Of all the times to bail out, why?' he couldn't help but think offhand; but he quickly dropped the subject when Wheeljack interrupted...

"Um? Prime, you need to look at this..." The Autobot inventor pointed to the monitor worryingly, everyone leaned in for a closer look: "The cluster has increased their speed exponentially! Their going nearly _four times_ faster than before: at this speed they should be touching Earth within only a matter of minutes!"

"Ironhide, prepare your team and be ready to mobilize. Ultra Magnas, you-"

"Wait! Wait a minute..." Wheeljack interrupted Prime, "The cluster is splitting up into two; eight are now heading towards Nevada, while twenty others are heading-" he suddenly paused in alarm, as he read and re-read through the data, hoping and praying it was incorrect.

"What? What is it?!" Sideswipe pressed him

"Unless I'm reading the data wrong, they're going to land ten miles north of the base, only less than two hundred yards from the edge of the reservoir!"

"But-, isn't that where-

"-THE HUMANS!"

"SHIT! EVERYONE MOVE IT!" Lennox bellowed, and without skipping a beat, the whole room emptied out as bots and humans alike raced towards the base entrance.

* * *

At the same time, less than half a mile from the encampment:

Morri was now well within range of the camp, and glad to finally see the welcoming glow of the campfire as it lit up the darkness in a soft orange-amber glow; from this distance, she could see Skywarp, Bluestreak and Firefly, along with all the girls and two younglings. As she watched, she noticed they were all pointing up at something in the sky; looking up, she soon spotted the object of their curiosity...

...Twenty GIGANTIC fireballs came screaming down through the atmosphere, lighting up the cloud cover in a fiery yellowish glow; Morri gasped in alarm, she'd never seen anything so big, coming in _that _fast before. Looking up and down, back and forth between the objects and the camp, it suddenly clicked that they were going to land right on top of them!

"SHIT!" she cursed as she sprinted for the camp; at the altitude the fireballs were currently at, she estimated she only had _minutes _to help get them out of range safely, if at all...

About three miles west, Ashley noticed the fireballs coming down too: "Hey, what the hell are those?" he pointed to where they were at in the sky. Activating his long-range scanners, Ravage flinched in alarm, but his worry instantly spiked when he spotted Morri running towards the camp: "Frag it! MOVE!" he growled angrily as he broke into a cheetah-like sprint, with Ashley trying to keep up: "RAVAGE! What is it?!"

"Trouble!" the panther growled, "Just run and try to get to the humans first! Before _they_ land!". "What?! Before _who_ lands?!" Ashley called after him as he flew over the rocky scrub.

The encampment was now in a state of panic, Skywarp and Bluestreak both knew they couldn't outrun the fireballs, much less the impact they would create; so they quickly gathered the humans and the two younglings, and Firefly, as best they could up in their arms (with Firefly hanging from the crook of Skywarp's arm: with him being the larger of the three bots, he was practically five times her own size and weight), and run for the safe side of one of the smaller sloping ridges some five hundred yards away...

"WAIT! LOOK!" Bluestreak shouted as he spotted Morri running towards them, "FRAG IT!-" Skywarp cursed, as he ran back to try and get the girl, who by now was running in a parallel direction towards them.

The intense heat of the fire could now be felt as the twenty flaming masses were seconds away from impact; Bluestreak was less than two hundred yards from the safety of the ridge, and Skywarp had only just snatched up Morri, while simultaneously bending down and over to curl up into the fetal position, protecting the humans and one rookie bot as the giant fireballs struck the rocky ground with all the earth-shattering devastation of a small-scale nuke...

In an instant, an earthquake rocked the desert for miles around, as twenty mushroom-shaped clouds, bathed in flames, lit up the night air and illuminated the entire mountain range for ten miles in either direction. Rocks, boulders, sand and dirt were thrown hundreds of feet into the air, as the whole sky thundered with an all-encompassing BRROOOOOOOM!, and all the scrub within a one click radius was scorched black, as the flames burnt everything to carbon and cinders within less than a second.

As his sensors and circuits spun and throbbed with pain from the initial shock-wave and intense heat, Skywarp felt the strength drop from his limbs as he collapsed: amid the dust and smoke, the strong stench of energon suddenly filled his vents, and a deep growl, hiss and thrum vibrated through his frame. The sound of a transformation cycle could be heard, followed by another, and another, and another, until only the sounds of metal grinding on metal, and armor sliding over ligament cables could be heard all around.

Looking down, the seeker was horrified to see his charges were gone, and as he looked up, he spotted a dust-covered bedraggled Morri; seeming peering out of a thick cloud of black smoke: she just seemed to hang there upside-down, as a huge black mass seemed to loom up from behind her...

"...Help..." was all she could gasp, before a powerful downdraft of wind knocked the seeker back, followed by the sound of-, what could only be described as giant insect wings. Morri screamed as she shot up into the air, seemingly carried off by something enormous. As he tried to reboot his systems, Skywarp stared up at the sky in alarm: twenty behemoth-sized creature-like objects were taking off, but amid the smoke and dust he couldn't make out what they were, and to make matters worse his scanners weren't back online yet; as the creatures took off, climbing higher and higher, the sounds of the humans and younglings screaming could be just vaguely heard over the thundering downdrafts.

At the exact same moment inside the base: Crystalwing and her children shuddered sharply, as if jabbed in the spark-chamber by an electric teaser, before staring at each other in mix of shock and terror: "SPARKLESTAR!" They all cried out simultaneously; their bond quivering as they sensed their youngest member moving further and further away, her panicked cries for help quickly fading as she moved out of their range...

...Down on the lower level of the base, Shadowstar stilled as her family's shock reverberated through her; she was gone, she couldn't sense her little sister's presence anymore: and as her family's panic began to rise, turning into fear and anger, she felt something she hadn't felt in over a lifetime...

Worry

As he tried to get back up, Skywarp saw Deathshot's unmistakable silhouette move in to attack one of the creatures, but as a huge wisp of smoke obscured his view: all the seeker saw was a white flash of muzzle fire, before a loud CLANG! Rang out, and Deathshot dropped to the ground unconscious, with a sizable injury to the side of his helm. Looking back up, the creatures had disappeared from sight into the black smoke and the darkness of the night, though the deep thrumming-buzz of their wings could be heard as they took off at an impossible speed.

Forcing himself to his feet, the seeker staggered in the direction of where Bluestreak and Firefly had been, and sure enough, he found the young gunner unconscious, and half buried under a pile of rocks and boulders. Fearing the worst, he forced his scanners to work, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw there were no human remains under the rock. Scanning the entire area, the humans were nowhere to be seen, and neither was Firefly...

So if they weren't here, where had they gone? And happened to Morri?

Only one logical, terrifying answer came to mind, and it made Skywarp shudder with dread. The sound of fast-approaching footfalls drew his attention to Ashley and Ravage as they approached the scene: Ashley gasped at the devastation in alarm, while Ravage, simply gazed on with a steeled look in his one optic.

"Wha- ...Wh-what happened?" Ashley finally spat out, but before he could say anything else, the Autobots came rushing towards them, and wasted no time in attending to Deathshot and Bluestreak, while the dazed Skywarp was led away to a clearing by the lake.

As they both surveyed the devastation with a hard critical optic, Optimus Prime and Majestrix's worry both grew into dire concern. "_Frag it_..." she cursed bitterly, "There's only _one kind_ of Decepticon who leaves this much devastation upon making planet-fall"

"_Insecticons_" Prime frowned bitterly

"Correct..." Majestrix sighed as she pressed her hand to her brow-plate"...Which means _this_, is about to turn into a nightmare..."

* * *

**FYI Majestrix, yeah, we kinda figured that B)**

**Stay tuned for the search and rescue mission, no doubt some serious shit's about to go down ;) And the Dinobots make their debut B) It's gonna be friggin' awesome. **

**Much love, and do R&R before leaving please :)**


	4. Chpt 3: When a Blood Moon Rises

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

* * *

HUNTERS MOON

Chapter 3: When a Blood Moon Rises

Somewhere on NEST base:

**: Wha-, what's the line doing open? :**

**: This is most irregular:**

**: I thought we were supposed to be keeping quiet? :**

**: Then, **_**you**_** didn't open this line? :**

**: No, I did! :**

**: What? - :**

**: Shut up and listen: if you're not already clued into what's going on, this is **_**exactly **_**the opportunity we've been waiting for: we've only got **_**minutes **_**to act so I need you all to stop what you're doing and **_**pay attention**_**. This is the part of the plan that's most vulnerable to being discovered, so listen carefully and do **_**exactly**_** what I tell you...: **

* * *

A little while later, somewhere north-west of the desert:

It was black, she didn't know where she was or what had happened: all she knew, was that the voice was calling her back from the darkness...

"Wake up! Wake up!"

That voice

She knew it from somewhere, one of the human interns that worked on the base.

"Wake up!"

It was faint, as if being drowned out by something. Static? No, an audio malfunction? No, wrong kind of feedback...It sounded more like-

"FIREFLY, WAKE UP!" Morri screamed

Wind blasting her in the face, and the deep thrumming beat of giant insect wings.

The femme suddenly snapped awake as her systems finished their reboot cycle, but before she could do or say anything, a dull throbbing pain in her side told her she was injured. "Where-, what the pit-" she drowsily murmured as she felt lots of sharp points digging into her abdominal and back plates: looking down, she was horrified to find herself wedged into a huge mouth full of teeth, with two gigantic mandibles on either side, pressing down on her legs and shoulders; essentially pinning her in the jaws of-

She followed the jaws, up to the head, and saw the face of what was carrying her...

"FRAG!-" She yelled out in shock

The beast was unlike anything she had seen in all her life. Bigger and bulkier, even than Cerberus; the creature bore a vague resemblance to a stag beetle, but with more thorn-shaped spikes lining it's legs and head, and two ridiculously huge cannons protruding out the top of its carapace, just in front of the wings. From where she was clamped in its maw, Firefly couldn't quite make out the rest of its face, but those glowing blood red optics were unmistakably Decepticon.

When it became apparent that the beast wasn't making any attempt to eat her, Firefly wasted no time in trying to ascertain where she was and what was going on; the giant wings beating like a pair of Chinook helicopter rotors told her right away it was flying, but to where? Turning her head sideways to look down below, the faint glow of street lights and other illuminated places and buildings whizzing by told her she was up very high, and moving at a rapid pace.

"Firefly! Are you okay?!" Morri called out again, trying to shout over the wind as it whistled over the creature head on.

"I'm okay! Where are you?!" the green femme cried out

"Down here!"

Looking all around and seeing nothing, it was only when Firefly decided to chance craning her head all the way back so she could see underneath the beast (essentially hanging upside-down), that she spotted Morri clinging for dear life to the front right-hand side leg, barely several meters from the throat cables.

"Holy Primus! Are you okay?!" Firefly gasped

"I'm okay! My belt's snagged on a spike! But are _you _okay!" Morri called back

"I ain't dead, so that's something!" Firefly yelled back, trying not to let the wind drown out her voice, "Where's everyone else?!"

"Over there!" Morri pointed to the right. Craning her head up to try and look past the other side of the behemoth's maw, Firefly spotted several other Insecticons flying in formation, and gasped in shock when she spotted Roxy, Max and Lizzy clinging to the hind leg of the creature nearest to her. Just in front of that one, she spotted Violet and Chelsea holding onto Sparklestar, as the young sphinx used her claws to keep a grip onto the side the creature's face, just behind where the mandibles protruded from the sides of the jaws. Seeing those teeth, and how _big _they were compared to _them,_ made her pump seize with dread. And just off to the left side and below, she saw the Waineright twins, Annabelle and Jay-jay had managed to climb up onto the top of the carapace of their kidnapper.

"Hold on! I'm busting us off this ride!" Firefly called over as she tried to activate her wrist guns, but to no avail; her weapons systems couldn't online them, and a quick internal scan revealed that the bugs were all emitting a jamming pulse of some kind, one that attacked a bot's weapons system specifically.

"I don't think there's much we can do at this point!" Morri called back

"Then what do _you _suggest?!" Firefly shot back

"...Just survive this flight, and _then_ figure out what to do!" Morri called back, before turning her attention to her CTG...

* * *

Back at NEST base, in the command center:

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hailey asked Bluestreak as he rubbed his helm, "I'm fine, it's just a CPU concussion" The young gunner waved off, "But it's _him_ I'm more worried about..." he quietly pointed to Skywarp.

The situation was now very tense

Of all the bots in the room, Skywarp was by far one of the worst off, standing there with a mix of fear and dread etched upon his face-plates: while Novastar tried to comfort him with words of reassurance. Deathshot too had a look of worry and determination in his one optic, as did the rest of his charges, as they stood next to him on the giant bot-sized command table. But it was Crystalwing and her family that were straining to hold it together: with their youngest family member now well out of their telepathic range, their bond was shaking as their emotions flew back and forth between one another: with instinct telling them to find her and refill the void it had left. Off to one side, the VW sisters were equally worried for their little sister, and even more so for her lack of experience; Darren and the Ainslie girls where near to panic also, as was Lennox, as he worried over the fate of his daughter.

After rescuing, patching up, and declaring Deathshot, Bluestreak and Skywarp fit for duty in record time; Ratchet and other bots had assembled in the command center for an emergency mission debriefing; emergency being the emphasis, as no one wanted to be here any longer than necessary. For they knew every second that ticked by, Firefly, Jay-jay, Sparklestar and the humans, would be inching that little closer to death's door.

"You all saw the data from Skywarp's optic feed, as well as the reading's that Deathshot's scanners took before he was rendered into stasis. As many of you are aware, most Decepticon's are tough enough to deal with, but when Insecticons become involved, all bets are off. There's no telling how this mission will transpire: therefore, we cannot let a single resource be overlooked, if it will help us find them that much quicker" Prime stated

"To that effect, the mission will be divided into two teams" Majestrix continued, "I will lead a small reconnaissance unit to search for, and ascertain the location of the con's, as well as keep them under surveillance, in order to strategize an effective means of extracting the hostages. Prime's team will follow us from the ground: they will be our back-up for when we engage them"

"But what if Firefly's already tried to fight them?!" Bluebird panicked

"If you're sister has even _half _a processor, she'll know she's out-gunned a thousand to one" Majestrix stated

"But she's never even_ heard_ of an Insecticon before, never mind actually _seen_ one!" Veebee exclaimed

"What?! ...So, she doesn't _know_ about the jamming signal they emit to immobilize our weapon's system's?!" Prowl exclaimed in disbelief

"Well-..." Tangostar sheepishly hesitated, before reluctantly admitting, "...No"

A whole wave of exasperated gasps and exclamations went around the table as the three sisters suddenly felt very small, and very stupid.

"_You're Autobots for Primus sake!_" Red Alert exclaimed, nearly glitching with shock, "How could she _not_ have the Insecticon specs on her referencing data banks?!"

"Hey give us a break will ya?! We ain't never run into any Insecticon's before! They were _supposed _to be extinct!" Veebee shot back

"Just because they haven't been sighted in over seventy years, _doesn't mean_ they were all wiped out" Ultra Magnas frowned,

"And what use are _you_ going to be if you don't know how to take on Insecticons?" Mirage accusingly stated: looking down his nose-plates at the femmes, to which the sister's all frowned in annoyance.

* * *

A few minutes or so earlier, Las Vegas, Nevada:

It was by sheer luck, that a fairly long section of the road had been closed due to extensive reconstruction on part of the water mains that ran beneath it.

After the nine giant fireballs slammed down into the tarmac: throwing up dirt and rocks, and rupturing the water pipes: the nine giants transformed into their mech modes, stood up, and took a moment to scan and sniff their surroundings.

"_This_. Is the dirt-ball planet we're supposed to call 'home' now?" the smallest among them grunted in a gruff snarky voice

"Rrrr! What a dump!" Another growled as he climbed out of his impact crater

"Oh I don't know" Another smaller one smiled as he looked around with a child-like curiosity, "It looks like it has possibilities"

"Yeah, _tasty_ ones" Another smiled as he licked his lip-plates, while eyeing up a rather tasty looking van.

"We can sample the local delicacies later" Their leader stated in a more serious, much more sinister tone, "Right now, we need altmode's"

"Rrrr, they don't look like they'll fit" one pointed to a row of parked construction vehicles nearby

"Not even close!" the leader grunted with disapproval

"Hey, what's over there?" one pointed to a building that overlooked the road

"Hmmm, according to the 'world wide web', it's called the 'Las Vegas Museum of Natural History'" one replied as it scanned the web, and instantly translated the whole of the English language,

"Natural history?" the leader echoed in bewilderment: curious, he wandered over for a closer look; his giant feet cracked and crushed the tarmac with every footfall he was so heavy. The museum itself was nothing like the Smithsonian, and with an exterior that was hardly anything worthy of aesthetical notice: it looked like the sort of place people would drive right by without giving a second glance. As he scanned the inside of the building, and picked up all the various bio-signatures of all the specimens kept within: a small smirk tugged at the side of his snaggle-toothed maw. "Hmmm, this look promising..." he thought aloud.

He was about to rip the roof off for a closer inspection, when a sign posted off to one side of the building, suddenly caught his optic...

**For 5 days only:**

**THE BIG 9!**

**Come see the kings of the carnivores! From the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, come face to face with nine of the biggest, most fearsome dinosaurs to have ever walked the earth!**

Now even more curious, the leader followed the sign around to the back of the building, where a giant marquee stood covering the whole of the tarmac: with signs, banners and bunting adorning the sides. Extending his giant armour-clad arms outwards, he proceeded to rip the whole front half of the giant tent-like structure down, until the interior was exposed. Coming up behind their leader for a closer look, the eight other mechs stared in wonder at display inside...

Nine complete fossilized dinosaur skeletons, each a various species: stood posed in deliberate fighting and stalking stances.

"Wow! Now _these_ are altmode's!" the smallest smiled

"Indeed..." another smirked. And he was right: each was impressive in its own right: but it was the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton that captured the lead mech's full attention: "...Beautiful..." he smiled as he scanned it, and automatically retrofitted the beast's form to his own default altmode. Taking their cue from their leader, the other's all picked a dinosaur of their own and began scanning them. Once the necessary procedure was complete, they all transformed to admire their new looks.

"Excellent," The leader grinned as he admired his new look, "Now that's taken care of, it's time to resume the hunt" he stated as he stepped out back out front into the road, "Where are they?"

"According to my last scanner ping, nearly two hundred miles west of here" the one who'd chosen the pterodactyl for his altmode replied.

"Errrr" the leader growled in frustration, "By the time we catch up on foot they'll be long out of range. No choice but to fly there: Let's go"

"Right on boss" the pterodactyl nodded, and together, the nine behemoth bots collapsed their forms down into their space-going protoforms and blasted off, heading west as nine giant armour-clad spheres.

* * *

Back at NEST base:

"Hey! Just because we ain't never encountered the Insecticon's first hand doesn't mean we don't know nothin' about them: we _have_ read the data on them you know!" Veebee stated defensively

"But _you've _never fought them before, how can we expect you three to have our backs covered, when you don't know the first thing about engaging them?" Tracks pointed out

"Trust me, I don't _need _any dada to beat the slag outta those bugs! They took our lil' sister: they're gonna be _dead_ by the time I'm done with them!" Veebee stated angrily as she cracked her knuckles

"Optimus! You can't be serious in letting them-

"Uh, Guys?" one of the human technicians interrupted, "Those nine other 'new arrivals' we lost on the long-range scanners? They just showed up"

"What?! Where?" Prowl exclaimed

"Las Vegas, right outside the natural history museum"

"_More_ of those bugs?! Ah geez!" Kup grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose-plates

"Bugs? The reports coming in are saying these ones are dinosaurs"

At the mention of the word, all the bots in the room froze, "...Dinosaurs?" Prowl echoed, hoping and praying it _wasn't _who he thought it could be,

"Yeah, check it out: this is the first YouTube upload that went online barely forty seconds ago..." the technician replied as he blew the video up on the main monitor. Shot on a camera phone, the amateur footage was shaky and blurred in places, but when the 'dinosaurs' appeared in the picture: their overall profile was unmistakable...

"Whoa..._Cybertronian_ dinosaurs? " Jeanie raised an eyebrow

But her fascination was _not_ shared by the others, as every bot in the room stared in a mix of shock and amazement when the huge came stomping around the side of the museum...

"Please tell me that's not-

"-It is" Majestrix flatly interrupted, the displeasure on her face had now turned into a deep frown of discontent.

"...Grimlock..." Prime ground through his dentals as he glared daggers at the monitor, "Change of plans: Majestrix is now leading the rescues mission"

The humans all snapped their heads up at him in surprise: "What? Why?" Tom exclaimed

"Because I need to stop him before he has a chance to catch up to the Insecticons" Prime stated: the tone of voice telling everyone he was in no mood to argue

"But what about the bugs? You said we can't-"

"-_I know what I said!_" Optimus snapped, making the humans jump back in alarm; realizing he'd been too aggressive, Prime forced his anxiety to one side, and stated in a calmer tone: "...I'm sorry..'" before leaning down to be closer to their eye-level, "Listen, I trust you, _all of you, _to do what's right by the younglings: But I _cannot_ let Grimlock and his team go anywhere near those cons"

"Why not?" Lennox demanded, "If their Autobots like you guys then shouldn't we have them here? You _did say_ we can't let a single resource be overlooked, remember?"

"I know, but that was before: right now, Grimlock is _the last_ Autobot we need getting involved in this" Prime stated firmly; Lennox was about to press him harder, but Ironhide gently brought his hand down in front to stop him: "Will, please...I'm worried for Annabelle too, but this isn't the time or the place. You _have_ to trust us" the weapons expert implored him.

Taken aback by the slight worry in his voice, Will suddenly realized this was now something very serious; and from where they stood watching at Deathshot's side, the Brigg's watched in silence, sensing the sudden shift in circumstances, they too realized that something had changed the whole situation, and something else was now at stake. Reluctantly stepping back as a show of submission, Will let out a frustrated sigh: "Fine, but _you owe me_ an explanation" he glared up at his guardian.

"Okay, so the game-plan's changed: what now?" Thundercracker asked

"Now, we stop wasting time and get to work" Majestrix stated firmly, "Blackshot, Crystalwing, Eclipse, Obsidian, Twilightveil, Velocity, Portia, Jetfire, Thundercracker: you're with me. Trailbreaker, Chromia, Bluestreak Bluebird, Veebee, Tangostar, you'll follow us and act as ground support, scouting from the air's all well and good, but it never hurts to have a second set of optics on the ground. Also, Lennox and Briggs, I'll need you're team's assistance too"

"Wait!-" Skywarp pleaded, "Please, let me come too! Jay-jay's my responsibility! I have to bring her back!"

"You?" Blackshot frowned coldly, "_You_ were the one who lost her in the first place!"

"Blackshot please!" Bluestreak pleaded, "This isn't the time for_ that_ right now. Besides, he's a teleporter: if any of the younglings are injured we're gonna need to get them back to the med-bay ASAP, and a teleporter's way faster than any flyer"

"You can't be serious-

"Actually, that's a good idea" Majestrix stated, "An emergency evac _would_ come in handy, should the worst happen. Alright Skywarp, you're with us"

"I'm comming too!" Ashley stated

"So are we" Ravage and his brother's boldly stepped forward

"What? But you-

"-If their on the ground, you're gonna need trackers: and Ravage and I are all you got!" Ashley stated angrily

"Ashley, I know you're worried for Morri and the others, but you can't-"

"This isn't about me Prime!" the hybrid raised his voice, "My cousin is somewhere out there with those things! And if their using ionized aluminium to cover their energon trail, what good are you guys gonna be from the air?!"

Prime paused

"He _does_ have a point, brother" Majestrix stated in a calmer tone, "If, on the off chance, they _are_ covering their trail, we will need an alternative mode of tracking them down"

"And you'll need drones too, we can get in the places you can't, sneak up on them when their least suspecting: maybe even get the younglings out when their backs are turned?" Buzzsaw threw in.

"How do we know you're not going to use this opportunity to turn on us and inform them of our whereabouts?" Blackshot glared at them coldly

"You don't, but if we're going to be playing this game again: what guarantee do _we_ have, that _you _will cover _us_ when we need back-up?" Ravage shot back,

Blackshot didn't reply, and simply stared at the drone in cold annoyance.

"...I want to come too..." a small voice spoke up from the floor: looking down, the bots were somewhat taken aback to see Shadowstar standing there, gazing up at Majestrix with a pleading look on her face; "They took Sparklestar too, I want to get her back..." she added nervously, looking up at her mother for some sign of reassurance.

Although she didn't let it show on her face, Crystalwing allowed a small internal smile to tug at her figurative lips: this was the first time Shadowstar had snapped out of her depressive state: perhaps the shock at sensing her little sister's sudden departure was the push she'd needed to bring her back to her senses? Although she couldn't sense Shadowstar had completely reopened her bond to the family, she _could_ feel her worry emanating from the forefront of her mind; and that was a positive sign that she hadn't completely given in to her self-inflicted despair and grief. Gazing down at her with a small smile, Crystalwing bent down and held her hand out for her daughter to jump onto; Shadowstar obliged, and lept up to take her place at her sibling's side.

"Alright: but we've wasted enough time as it is. My team, report to the armoury for your weapons and then meet up top, we leave in _five minutes!_" Majestrix stated: as the bot's turned to leave, Majestrix and Blackshot locked optics for a brief second, as if to say 'what are you playing at?'; no one seemed to notice the cold exchange, and before anything else could be said, they broke off the stare and followed the others out the room.

As Prime's team filed out the door, John looked up at Ashley: "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I'm gonna have to be, they need us" Ashley stated, to which his father nodded in acknowledgment, "Okay, but you _stay on my arse_ at all times, you hear?"

"Fine" Ashley nodded, "Just-, don't get on my back okay? I just want to focus on finding her: I don't want to think about what might go wrong" he admitted with a heavy heart.

"It's not entirely hopeless" Ravage purred, "Insecticons aren't tacticians, but they're not as dumb as they look: if Firefly and the younglings are still alive, their likely to use them as a bargaining chip. If that happens, then at least we stand a chance of saving them"

"And if this 'Grimlock' guy gets involved, then what?" Danny worried

Ravage flattened his ears back against his head as a look of grimness came over his one optic: "...Then there will be _no_ hope of saving them. Whenever Grimlock and his team are involved in _anything_, everything rapidly descends to the pit..."

* * *

A little while later, on the southern-most end of the Sierra mountain range:

It was hard to tell how far they had flown, or in which direction, all Morri knew was that it was somewhere north, as she had spotted the North Star right ahead of them some time ago. The lack of street lights and other such illuminations had become fewer and further between, indicating they were now somewhere very remote.

The wind had grown softer and slower, as the Insecticons were now descending downwards, until eventually they halted and began to hover; cautiously peering down, the captives saw a fuel depot, with ten giant storage tanks and an accompanying system of pipes and pumps. As the behemoths came into land with a sharp THUD! Cracking the tarmac under their spiked claws, the sudden jolt dislodged the humans and two younglings from their anchors, and dropped them onto the hard stone-like ground; the one holding Firefly opening its massive jaws, and unceremoniously dropped her like a piece of meat.

Looking up to take in their full size, Morri counted twenty in total, and after they folded their wings back under their broad wing-cases, they then transformed into-, what could only be called a 'basic' bipedal mode, as there was hardly anything about them that even closely resembled a regular mech. From helm to toe-ped, their whole bodies were covered in sharp, spiky, glass shard-like armour: somewhat organic in form and profile on account of their altmode's; their faces consisted of one red visor wrapping around where the optics should be, and a maw that was a monstrous mish-mash of long shark-like teeth, two sets of powerful mandibles, and from the forehead extending all the way back and down to the carapace, a triple row of blade-like spikes.

On top of all the armour and sharp edges: Morri noticed all the countless dent's, dings, scratches, gouges, and even giant bite mark's covered every last inch of them, and their red, yellow, grey and black colouration didn't do anything for alleviating her nerves. As they stood close to each another, the creatures nodded and gestured to one another with a series of deep insect-like, clicks, hisses and clacking: adding to their already fearsome presence.

This was not a good situation by a long shot, but this wasn't the first time she'd been caught in a tight spot: taking a few deep breaths, Morri watched as the beasts turned their attention to the fuel tanks, ripping them open, and began lapping up the diesel (or petrol) inside. Taking the opportunity, she dashed to where the other girls and younglings were crowded around Firefly, desperately trying to cling to one another.

"Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?" Morri asked, instantly going into medic mode

Roxy promptly punched her in the face: "Do we _look _okay?!" she hissed angrily, which made the youngsters flinch in surprise: "What the hell was _that _for?!" Chelsea gasped as she punched Roxy back in the shoulder. But Morri simply rubbed the side of her jaw and shrugged it off, "I'll take than as a yes", and turned her attention to Annabelle, Jay-jay, Sparklestar and Violet: "But are _you_ girl's okay?".

Annabelle, Violet, Jay-jay and Sparklestar all nodded, as did Chelsea and Max, but Lizzy and Roxy only gave her an annoyed stare; she ignored them, and turned her attention to the still-conscious Firefly: "Are you okay? Can you move alright?"

"I'm fine I'm fine!" she waved her away, "It's just a few puncture holes and a cracked armour plate is all" she assured them. "See, she's fine, now transform and let's get out of here!" Lizzy rudely shoved Morri to one side as she stepped up alongside the femme: But Morri grabbed her by the scuff of her hoodie and yanked her back sharply. "No way! You're in no fit state to stand up let alone transform!" Morri firmly stated.

"I _can_ transform! Watch!" Firefly spat back as she proceeded to try and stand up, but as a small quantity of energon began trickling out of the wound in her side, Firefly hissed sharply and collapsed back down onto the tarmac, grabbing her side in agony. This caught the lead Insecticon's attention as he strode over to her, and deliberately reached down and grasped her by the neck; everyone bar Morri turned to run, but two other Insecticon's where there to block their path, sniggering in delight at seeing them so afraid.

"Little scout," the Insecticon leader growled mockingly in his native cybertronian, "Little Autobot, what _are_ we going to do with you?" he smiled

"You can go to-, GHA!" Firefly yelled out as the con raised his arm and purposely dug one claw into the wound; it was so painful she couldn't even struggle against his grip: "Such weakness, such a poor show of strength: rest assure your death will be a swift one; least you're friend's would say that the great and powerful Hardshell wasn't merciful" he taunted as he opened his mandibles, ready to decapitate her with one swift bite...

But at the last second, Morri ran forward: "If you kill her! You won't get anything!" she shouted.

The fact that she spoke fluent cybertronian caught the Insecticon's out completely by surprise, and as Hardshell glanced sideways at her, his amusement turned to curiosity; "Get anything?" he echoed in bemusement

"Don't you know who this is?!" Morri pointed to Firefly, who was now a little alarmed at where this was going: "That's Firefly, one of the greatest, most gifted scout's in all of the Autobot army: you kill her, all of Prime's forces will come after you, and hunt you down"

"Good! All the more energon for us!" the Insecticon cackled as he proceeded to try and bite the femme's head off again.

"But what about a trade?" Morri was quick to grab his attention again

"... Trade? "

"Yes, you keep her alive, and you can trade her back to the bots for anything you want... _Anything_"

Puzzled, Hardshell dropped Firefly, and swiped Morri up in his claws: everyone watched in horror as the giant monster Decepticon stared her right in the eye. But what was perhaps more remarkable, was how Morri was holding it together, and simply glairing right back up at him. "And what value does a lesser meat-creature like _you_ hold for them?" Hardshell asked as he brushed the side of one claw up against the Autobot insignia on the left arm of her uniform.

"Tactical strategics: we _evolved_ here; we know this planet inside and out, every hiding place, and every _secret _place: everything they need to know about how to root out the Decepticons. We're the first ones they come to" Morri lied, being careful not to let any sign of it slip. Hardshell stared down at her long and hard for a brief moment: his fellow insecticon's watched on in curiosity as he seemed to be contemplating her words: "...Tell me, does _Grimlock _know where we are?"

Morri's brain froze: 'Grimlock? Who's Grimlock?' she thought worryingly, having not a clue as to who the latter was. This wasn't something she'd hope would happen; she knew what she said next could impact the situation somehow, and possibly put everyone's lives at risk. Being very careful not to let any trace of her rising fear show on her face, Morri desperately raked her brain for a solution: but who was Grimlock? And what did he mean to this beast and his pack? Deciding to test the waters for a better idea of what to play with, Morri took a deep breath, and boldly, yet calmly asked: "...Well? That depends?"

The insecticon brought her closer to his face: "_On what?_" he growled lowly

This wasn't good, that tone was not a positive one: So Morri changed tactics, and prayed that what she said next would yield something: "..._How desperate are you? ..._" she asserted in a dark tone of her own.

The Insecticons all seemed to chatter among themselves, as if agreeing with each other about something: this wasn't lost on Hardshell as he seemed to be contemplating what she said too; until at last he stated: "...Perhaps I've been too hasty: maybe hostages _will_ work better than a few mere threats...", to which the other Insecticon's seemed to agree.

As Hardshell dropped Morri to the ground, Firefly quickly caught her in her one free hand, and put her down as the Insecticons went back to guzzling down the fuel; the other's all rushed to her as she dusted herself off. "Whoa! You never said you could speak Cybertronian!" Sparklestar exclaimed in amazement.

"You never asked" she replied, trying not to let her fear come out as sarcasm, "That's what you were saying? You can _speak _their language?" Max blinked in surprise, "When did you learn to do that?"

"Forget that! Why'd you say _that _to him?!" Firefly hissed, hoping and praying the cons weren't eves-dropping.

"Do you _want_ to die or not?" Morri looked her in the eye with an 'I'm not bullshitting you' look, "If it means we stay alive, I'll lie however many times I need to (within reason)"

"You, sweet-talking _him_?" Roxy gestured to the insecticon leader as he ripped up one of the storage tanks, "Yeah right" she scoffed. "Well do _you_ have any better suggestions right now?" Morri challenged her, "Yeah actually, if we move it, we can probably take cover in those trees over there!" Roxy pointed to edge of a thick pine forest across the road, "Right, because wood is such a good cover against cybertanium and big effing plasma cannons" Morri sarcastically smiled. Roxy then realized just how stupid her plan was, and huffed in defeat, "_Fine_, but even so, this ain't the time for you to go playing hero!"

"Will you shut up already? You're _not _helping!" the Waineright twins glared at her,

"Why should we listen to _you_ anyway?" Lizzy folded her arms in defiance, "...Why?" Morri was a little aback, "Yeah? I mean come on! _You're just one of the interns!_ It's not like you got anything to offer or know how to do this kinda thing. Face it, you're just a wannabe who's trying to take advantage of the situation and get all the glory of saving us for yourself" Lizzy stated matter-of factly, practically oozing confidence in the (fulse) fact that she was right.

Morri simply stared at this young upstart, as the memory of her first meeting with Ashley right after he and his family moved in with her's came to mind: and right then, she knew _exactly _how to knock Lizzy down a few pegs. Her attitude wasn't going to help anyone in anyway: so better to nip it in the bud now, then give her the opportunity to make things worse later on. So before her elder sister and cousin's had a chance to reprimand her, Morri stepped in front, and leaned over a little so they were both eye to eye ...

"... Oh really? " She calmly replied, though the venom in her voice wasn't hard to spot for Max, and before she knew what was going on, Morri quickly grabbed Lizzy by the ear, and pulled it _hard_, eliciting a sharp yelp as the teenager tried to smack at her hand: but Morri held on firmly as she yanked the teenager's head to one side so she was closer to her: "Now listen up, because I'm only going to say this _once_. I _don't_ make it my business to go prying into other people's personal lives, and after what you're family has been through, I decided to leave you all alone so you could come to terms with it in your own time. But somehow, in the midst of all that's been going on over the past two weeks, _you_ seemed to have come to the conclusion, that just because you've got an Autobot for a best friend, you're automatically entitled to whatever you damn well please. Well I'm telling you right now, _you're not!"_ , Morri stated in a strict tone, and getting stricter, "You're _not_ a member of NEST, You're _not_ a member of the Autobots: _You're _ _a spoilt brat_ who came to our base, because one of the Decepticons connected _you_ and you're sisters to our top hacker! _You're nothing special!_ And _don't you dare_, for _one minute_ think that I'm kidding when I say: _Shut up, and behave yourself_. And if you can't take that, well then cry me a river, build me a bridge, and _get over it!_",

At that, Morri released Lizzy's now-throbbing ear, but she wasn't done, as her tone turned aggressive"...And as for my credentials? I'll have you know, that without pride nor ego: I can tell you I've had _more _than my share of hell! I've been shot, stabbed, nearly blown up, beaten to within an inch of my life, had to fight off killer cyborgs and human-Decepticon hybrid zombies, I've been _brainwashed_ into believing I was a Cybertronian, and lived as such for more than forty years. I've cried, and ached for my family and friends as I watched them go through the same hell I did, knowing there was nothing I could do but carry on, and _hope and pray_ that _somehow_ we'd all live to see tomorrow...And on top of that, I've had to put up with a lot of other shit I didn't ask for: but I made the most of what I've been given, and _not once_ do I consider_ any _of it to be a blight on my life..." She calmed down a little, "Unlike _you_; a selfish spoilt little girl, who treats everything like a game or a prank, without once ever giving any thought to anyone but herself...You look me in the eye-"

Lizzy turned away

"-LOOK AT ME!" Morri sternly barked as she held Lizzy's chin up so she'd have to stare right up at her, "..._You look me in the eye_, and you _tell me_ you don't care about anyone else! ..."

Lizzy knew, to her uncomfortable realization, there was no way out of this: there was no way she could lie, not with those dark brown eyes piercing right into her.

As the other's watched on in stunned silence, Firefly was dismayed; she'd _never _seen Lizzy backed into a corner like this before: usually she could sweet talk her way out of anything and around anyone, but Morri had her pinned down by the proverbial balls, and she wasn't giving her a single inch to wriggle out. Violet too was amazed to see her older sister being punished like this, as was Max, though she actually found herself admiring Morri, this girl had some _serious _balls, and didn't take any bullshit. Chelsea was just gobsmacked, but Roxy however, was just pleased that someone was finally able to put her little shit of a sister in her place at long last, and made a mental note to buy Morri a round of shots when they got back to the base (if we ever get out of this alive that is, she mentally reminded herself).

As for Lizzy, for the first time in her life she didn't know what to say: no smart-assed remarks or cleaver comebacks, her mind went belly-up like a dead goldfish on her, and as she frantically racked brain for an answer (or rather, _the_ answer). Her salvation came when the Insecticons suddenly stopped...

The giant beasts all turned in the same direction, as if something had caught their attention far off in the distance, and simply stood there as they stared up at the sky.

"Uh, what are they doing now?" Chelsea nervously asked

"No idea," Morri replied, equally alarmed by the sudden change in behaviour.

A resounding wave of rapid-fired clicks emanated from beasts as they clacked their mandibles together: this strange call went around the pack a few times, before they all transformed back into their Insect modes and began to take off; One creature picked up Firefly in its jaws and carried her off, while a second gathered up the humans and younglings with its legs, and carried them under its armoured underside, using all six of its legs to hold them in place.

"Where're they taking us now?" Chelsea shouted over the blustery wind

"I don't know!" Morri called back, holding on tightly as they disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later:

**: It would appear these Insecticons didn't have the forethought to use ionized aluminium:** Blackshot commed to Majestrix as she scanned the ground below

**: So it would seem, but let's not hold our breath's just yet: Insecticon's can cover a fair bit of mileage when they need to, so we've a way to go yet :** Majestrix replied, **:Deathshot, what are you're long-range scanner's picking up? :**

**: Not much at this present time: their either flying under the radar floor or are obscured by the topography: **the sniper replied as he flanked her right wing.

**: Copy that:**

"So? Care to tell us what happened back there?" John asked as he tried to wriggle into a more comfy position; being cramped into Deathshot's cockpit with his twelve foot tall hybrid son, plus Ravage, Frenzy and Rumble wasn't the best idea, but a necessary one, given the current circumstances.

"You mean Grimlock?" Deathshot replied

"_Duh!_, What was Prime's gripe? Those two had a falling out or something?" Ashley deadpanned

"That's putting it very lightly," Deathshot sighed through his sound-speakers: "Grimlock is the leader of a black-ops team called the Dynobots; one of many from back in the day when the war reached its worst, and the Autobot's needed a team that could specialize in taking on the tough missions; the ones that had little or no chance of getting out alive. Their tactics were hard and merciless, and their reputation was always questionable: but around a couple of thousand centuries ago, Shockwave and his forces ambushed them, and used them as test-subjects for some secret experiment he'd been working on...The scuttlebutt goes, that something went wrong during the procedure, and the Dynobots managed to escape: they went back to business as usual as soon as they rejoined the Autobots, only now they were different: _much worse_ than before"

"Worse? How? " John raised a sceptical eyebrow,

"About a year or so before the Spark Eater attacked us in the Xion system: we undertook a mission alongside the Dynobots, to rescue a small party of neutrals, who's ship had been hijacked by one of Starscream's raiding parties. The extraction should have been simple enough: the ship had minimal defences, and the seeker's themselves had no back-up to hold us off; the plan was for the Dynobots to distract the seekers while we went in and grabbed the hostages. But Grimlock had no intention of letting anyone out alive; he _covets_ power, and lusts for bloodshed wherever he can get it. Me and my unit went ahead to try and snipe the seekers guarding the ship, but before we even got started, Grimlock ordered the Dynobots to attack...I still remember the screams over the comms: it was an all-out massacre... And, by the time we arrived, both the seekers _and _hostages had been torn to pieces. Grimlock made some cheap excuse about the hostages being Decepticon's in disguise, and that it had been a rouse to trick us into lowering our defences. But we _knew_ _for a fact_ the hostages weren't cons: and I'm pretty sure Grimlock knew that too"

"Whoa! I ain't never heard _that_ before!" Rumble blinked in surprise

"Very few have, it's just _one_ of the 9's many dirty little secrets" Deathshot replied, not even attempting to disguise the shame in his voice.

"What happened when Prime found out? Did he try to kill him?" Ashley threw in

"He tried, from what I heard it got pretty ugly: but then, that's nothing new. Everyone_ knows_ Grimlock's been trying to oust Optimus as leader of the Autobots since they first met (mostly whenever the opportunity presented itself); the two have been a thorn in each other's side for as long as the war's dragged on, but neither can get the better of the other. Grimlock is all muscle and brute strength, with the attitude to go with it: but he's failed time and time again to comprehend the fact, that when it comes to physical strength, the Primes are in a whole other class of their own, and very few (if _any_ at all) have been able to take them on head-to-head and survive (with the exception of Megatron)"

"So why didn't Prime just chuck him outta the Autobots? Every Decepticon, from Megatron to Shockwave_ knows_ the Dynobots were _always_ great con martial; if it's the bloodshed they wanted, why didn't they just switch sides?" Rumble pondered aloud

"Because Grimlock hated the cons _far more_ than he'd ever disapprove of Prime's moral code; before Shockwave got his hands on them, they were hardcore as it was: but afterwards? It was like nothing and no one else was of any relevance: only wiping out the cons mattered, regardless of whether Prime wanted them involved or not"

"So? They were sort of like, that one bunch of Jocks no one invited to the party?" Ashley asked

"And the last one to _leave_ the party, was the one who got stuck with the check; pretty much" Deathshot sighed

"Hm, and I thought _we_ had it bad: those brutes were an endless source of grief for the cons century in century out. I cannot recall, in all of living memory, a bunch of bots who could undo so much in so little a time as they did: they were probably the only bots who could destroy even Soundwave's best laid plans, despite their brainlessness" Ravage growled

"Amenbro!" Frenzy high-fived the panther

"Wait a minute: if Grimlock and his guys only just arrived here, that means they don't know _you guys_ defected, right?" Ashley suddenly realized,

Ravage's expression soured by tenfold, while his brother's glanced at each other nervously: "No, he does not..." the panther growled in a low dangerous tone.

"Aw hell..."

* * *

Half an hour later, somewhere deep in the Sierra Mountains:

After having flown for another lengthy period of time, the Insecticons were now well and truly flying over the middle of nowhere: down below, not a single light could be seen for miles around, and with the light of the full moon being the only source of light to see anything at all, the captives had grown more worried of the possibility that the Autobots might not be able to find them at all...

Except for Morri, who right now, was more preoccupied with something on her CTG, as she typed away on the holographic keyboard: reading through the various data she was bringing up; hoping their kidnapper wouldn't overhear her, Max leaned in as close as she could to Morri's ear, and whispered: "What're you doing?"

"Trying to find something that'll help us" Morri whispered back. Max was about to ask something else, when the Insecticons banked sharply to the left, and started descending downwards. As the moon came into view overhead, the captives suddenly noticed a vast lake right below them, surrounded on one side by a vast cliff face that reached some five to six hundred feet above the water, where a dense forest concealed the rest of the topography.

The Insecticon pack came into land on the foreshore, right below the cliffs, and proceeded to lumber forward towards the rocky wall. Switching on her visor's night-vision, Morri saw a series of huge caves nestled under some large rocky overhangs; they looked like they went back into the cliffs for quite a way, and as the beasts proceeded into the larger of the hollowed out structures, the captives were taken into an adjacent cave some several meters away.

Firefly switched her headlights on, just as their kidnapper dropped them onto a large expanse of soft sand: and as the humans and three younglings gathered themselves together, the giant creature turned around and lumbered back to the cave entrance, where he sat himself down and proceeded to guard their only means of escape.

"Okay, so we're not dead, that's good right?" Roxy panted as she tried to get her breath back.

"But for how long?" Firefly pessimistically stated, "If I can just transform-

"I already told you, you're in no fit state to transform!" Morri snapped back

"Oh really? How?" the green femme challenged her as she sat upright.

"You don't feel much pain now right? Otherwise you wouldn't be able to sit upright like that" Morri pointed out

"Yeah, so?"

"_So_, if you're not feeling any pain, that means you're synaptic-nodes are in stasis because all the energon in that area of your body's circuitry's been leaked out! Also, you've got _at least_ three torn ligament cables, two ruptured oil valves: and look, see that little gold spherical thing right there? ..." Morri pointed to said object that was barely noticeable in Firefly's wound, "That's your T-cog! And it's got a fracture running right over the frontal a-symmetric frame aligners: that means if you try to transform, you're frame won't align from femme to alt mode correctly, and you'll rip yourself in half, _right down the middle!_"

Firefly paused: she knew she'd been told the humans knew a thing or two about cybertronian anatomy, but she hadn't expected Morri to sound as professional as Ratchet; it took her aback quite a bit, and forced her to rethink this human girl's competence, "...You, _know_ how a T-cog works?" she asked cautiously.

"We_ all_ do Fly', being an intern with NEST isn't just about filing reports and doing basic maintenance" Morri replied, hoping that would be the last time she would have to prove herself to her.

"Okay, so we can't use 'Fly to fight our way out: our only hope now is to hope and pray that the bots come and get us" Roxy stated

"If at all" Lizzy frowned, "I don't know if you noticed while we were flying, but we're kinda stuck in _the middle of nowhere_, with those oversized bugs right next door!"

Morri decided to step in again: "It's a bad situation, I know, but-

"But _what?_" Lizzy got right up in her face, "You think just because you can syke me out once, doesn't mean-

But Lizzy didn't get to finish as Annabelle punched her hard in the side of the knee; the teenager fell to her knees in pain, but didn't get the chance to complain as the four year old grabbed her by the hoodie, and yanked her down so she was right in her face: "Okay, now you listen up right now!" she growled venomously, "I've had just about enough of your attitude young lady! We're in a bad situation and _you're not helping!_ We're surrounded by Decepticons, out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, with an Autobot who can't fight. Being a little more cooperative and a little less bossy will go a long way, so just shut up and listen to Morri! She knows a thing or two about dealing with this kinda stuff!"

And with that, she let Lizzy go, letting her drop to the ground on her butt: But before she could retaliate, Roxy stepped in front of her, forcing her to stay sitting down: "If you got _even half _a brain in that thick skull of yours, you'll sit there and keep quiet!" she growled

"Oh come on!" Lizzy protested, "You can't be serious!"

"Well what the hell do _you_ recommend?" Max challenged her, "Listen, I've hijacked enough cars to know mechanics inside and out, and I didn't understand a single word she just said back there; she knows what she's talking about"

"I wasn't asking _you!_" Lizzy snapped, to which Annabelle grabbed her by the scuff of her hoodie again: "Listen _sweetie_, I once blew up a Decepticon with a box of firecrackers: if you don't wanna find out what I'll do to _you_, you'll quit the attitude, and back off!" she warned

Looking up at the disapproving faces of the human's, Lizzy turned to Firefly, "Fly'! Back me up here!", but all the young femme could offer was: "...I'm sorry Lizzy, but I gotta go with her on this one..." she sheepishly admitted, feeling somewhat ashamed for letting her down.

Dismayed, Lizzy huffed in annoyance, and relinquished: "...Fine! What do you wanna do?"

Morri passed a sigh as she turned her attention back to the main situation at hand: "...Okay, now listen up. We can all agree the odds are against us; but that doesn't mean we're completely out of options. Okay, we don't have any weapons or any back-up: but we have each other, and that's a good a starting point as any" she stated

"Before we touched down here, you were doing something on that thing of yours" Max pointed to the CTG

"Did you send a message back to the base?" Sparklestar pleaded

"No, I already tried that; these Insecticons are emitting some sort of jamming pulse, so I couldn't get anything back to base, plus the weapon's settings aren't working; but my CTG _does_ come equipped with some offline functions, including a data-base of all the main Decepticon warrior-classes"

"Insecticon? Is that what these guys are?" Firefly asked

"Yes, and I'm rather surprised you didn't know about them beforehand..." Morri raised an eyebrow as she activated her CTG, and displayed an image of an Insecticon, both in bipedal and alt mode: "But yes, these particular Decepticon's are called Insecticons: their basically the con's guard-dogs slash heavies, who're only good for ripping things apart and making a mess of a battlefield. Their armour is practically impenetrable, so even if you _had_ taken them on, you're guns wouldn't have even dented them..." she glanced sideways at Firefly, "On top of that, their cannon's have enough firepower to decimate an aircraft carrier with one shot, they can easily out-fly a seeker, and their jaws and mandibles combined can crush just about anything"

"Then it's hopeless" Lizzy sighed

"Not necessarily" Morri replied, "These cons are designed to take on the heaviest bots in the heaviest fights, but they're _not _well suited for taking on smaller targets who may be well versed in guerrilla-style warfare; fighters that are small and light on their feet, faster and more agile...If we work together and strategize this right, we can use our own size to our advantage against them"

The other's all glanced at one another, and nodded in agreement: "Sounds like a plan, what've you got in mind?" Chelsea asked

"Well first off, I'm going to need you all to work with me here, and follow what I say"

"Okay, what'd you need?" Max replied

"I need you, Chelsea and Roxy with me, the first thing we'll do is scout the cave: it's pretty big and goes back into the cliff a fair ol' distance, so there _must be_ a cavity or cavern of some sort we can use as a hiding place, if things start to get dicey"

"What can we do?" Sparklestar asked, "Yeah, I wanna do somethin'" Violet peeped in.

"Okay Violet, you can help Becky and Becca look after Jay-jay. Sparklestar, I need you to look after Firefly: her injury isn't life threatening, but if she starts bleeding internally, you'll be able to smell the leaked energon long before she can pick it up on her internal scanners, can you do that?" Morri asked, "Defiantly" the young sphinx nodded,

"Becky, Becca: stay with Firefly, and make sure she doesn't try anything rash" Morri added, "Right on" they both replied. "What can I do?" Annabelle asked, "I need you to make sure everyone stays together, and stays in the cave, while me and the girls are looking around. Also, if any of the cons come back I want you to call out to warn us, okay?" Morri replied, "Okay" she nodded.

"And me?" Lizzy asked: Morri paused a moment, before replying, "...I want you to stay with Firefly and the twins: if anyone asks anything of you, you help them out as best you can, and you do it without complaint; understand?"

"Yeah whatever" Lizzy flippantly replied, still very peeved off.

Still not satisfied that this issue was completely dealt with, Morri crouched down in front of her, and got her attention as she told her: "Listen, if you're scared, I understand: I don't want to be here anymore than you do. But if you're being this way for some other reason: I have to know right now, so I can _at least_ take into consideration, any further bullshit you're likely to give me...Every second you waste with this, is precious time we can be making the most of: so either get it off your chest right now, or save it until we get back to the base"

"It's just-..." Lizzy's look of frustration and annoyance didn't leave her face as she tried to find the right words, "...I thought-, being on the base with the bots: I thought I'd know how to deal with this, you know?"

"That's what this is about? You couldn't stand loosing you're cool so you take it out on Morri?!" Annabelle exclaimed

"No! It's just-..." Lizzy looked back up at Morri, "-I've see you around the base _all the time_, and _I don't get_ what everyone finds so cool about you? I don't see you up on the firing range or in the training room so you obviously don't know how to fight, I don't see you in the computer labs with Darren and Glen so you're obviously not smart enough to be a techy. So what the hell do you do that justifies everyone liking you so much?"

Morri stared at her for the longest time, her face devoid of any expression, as she seemed to be contemplating Lizzy's statement: then she slowly got back up, and simply replied: "...It's not about having the strength or the smarts that make you stand out; sometimes, there are other, more _important _attributes that other's come to recognize that make you count for something: things like experience, respect, and _understanding_... Something, you've yet to fully grasp and appreciate. I'm sorry, if I don't meet your standards for being one of the 'cool kids', but this _isn't_ high school. At NEST, we aren't governed by cliques, judged by our taste in fashion, friends or trends: _we are all in the same boat together_, everyone relies on everyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from..." she stated as she crouched back down to meet her eye-level, and spoke in a more reassuring tone, "...Look, I _don't_ despise you, I'm not being hard like this because I'm getting some cheap kick out of it; I'm being this way because _you_ insist on wanting to act the fool: and until you grow up a little and start behaving more responsibly, I'll keep you on the bench as such..."

Lizzy didn't reply

"Please...Just think about it okay?" Morri added, before she got back up to address the Roxy, Chelsea and Max. "Come on, we better get a move on..."

And with that, the girl's each reached for the little torches they had in their pockets, and made their way to the back of the cave, while Morri went to check out the entrance, being careful not to disturb the 'guard'.

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere deep in the Sierras:

"Uh, Lord Barkiss, sir? We just picked up the Decepticon's signal: it would appear they've taken the bait"

"Ah-ha! Excellent!"

"Um? Only one catch sir, it appears they've taken some hostages as well; one of the young female Autobot's, two of their 'children', and nine of the human children to boot"

"Hm, even better! That takes care of the bait for phase two; what's the situation with the Autobots?"

"They've already sent out a small scouting party, but it would appear that Optimus Prime is not with them sir"

"Darn! Well where the bloody hell is he?"

"Apparently, the Decepticons were followed by-, some fellows calling themselves the 'Dinobots' (at least that's what the comms picked up); their heading towards the Sierras as we speak, with Prime and a small team of his officers in hot pursuit"

"Hmm, so this may not have been a waste after all..."

"Would you like us to change the location of the traps sir?"

"No no, keep them in place and ready the weapons: we'll just have to find a way of grabbing one of the children; the question is, how?"

* * *

**Shallow Lizzy, real shallow :( ...& Barkiss, what are you up to there?**

** Hard to say what's gonna come next, but either way, you can't say it won't be interesting ;)**

**Much love, and do drop off a review before leaving please! :)**


	5. Chpt 4: Red Sunrise

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

* * *

HUNTERS MOON

Chapter 4: Red Sunrise

8 or so hours later, somewhere deep in the southern Sierra Mountains:

It was still quite dark outside, though the sky was slowly beginning to turn in colour from the night-time indigo to the deep blue of the early dawn: echoing from across the lake, the owls and all the other nocturnal creatures had quieted down, and were now slowly being replaced by the deep hoarse crowing of ravens, as well as all the other birds of the early morning hours.

As she stirred from her light nap, Lizzy looked over at where the Waineright twins were huddled up with Jay-jay against the still-recharging Firefly, using the heat of her whirring systems to keep the cold night air at bay: next to them, Violet and Annabelle sat drooped over one another, having given into fatigue and exhaustion some time ago, and thus had fallen asleep together, with a sleeping Sparklestar curled around them like a snake; nestled right up in the curve of Firefly's shoulder.

The whole scene would have looked adorable: were it not for the fact there was a pack of twenty giant monster Insecticons, barely two hundred yards away in the cave adjacent to theirs. After sitting up and stretching out her stiff limbs, Lizzy chanced a glimpse at the mouth of the cave; the Insecticon guarding the entrance hadn't moved all night, and so she flopped back down with a small sigh.

"Sleep much?" Becca asked offhand as she rubbed her eyes.

"I napped a little: you?" she asked back

"Didn't sleep much anyway: though, I'm surprised Jay-jay managed to doze off..." the blonde twin smiled as she carefully wriggled out of the 'cuddle-pile', and came over to Lizzy's side. The two girls sat in an awkward silence for a brief moment, before Becca asked: "...So, you calmed down yet?"

Having had a good several hours to cool off and think about what happened when they first arrived, Lizzy couldn't say she had much frustration left to vent, and with an exasperated sigh, admitted: "I guess? ..." though she still had some stubbornness left to not want to let anyone have the final say (despite the fact the argument was long since over). "...Can't say I ever been in _that _kinda situation before"

"What? The part where we got hijacked by a bunch of giant alien bugs? Or where you got your comeuppance for being a jerk?"

Lizzy gazed at Becca in surprise for a brief second, the sarcasm in her voice hadn't gone over her head, but she knew now she had no right to contend her opinion; so she just sat there, half tempted to want to stew in her own stubborn annoyance: but somehow (for some unfathomable reason), curious as to know why...

"...I never figured she was the type" Lizzy said offhand.

"Who?"

"Morri: giving a verbal beat-down like that. How often does she own your ass?"

"She's not the type" Becca corrected, "She just doesn't like taking any bullshit: especially in a situation like this...Which made me curious: _where the hell_ did you get the idea that you could take charge of this?"

"...I just thought-"

"What? That you knew exactly how to escape? That this is just like getting out of being grounded?" Becca stated. To which Lizzy stared at her in surprise: "Yeah, I've been there, I used to think the same thing too once: but life hardly ever works out like that, and when you live with these guys-" Becca patted Firefly's side, "There's not much that_ does_ works out...At least, nothing you're able to make your own luck with"

Now more curious, Lizzy couldn't help but ask: "...So? You used to prank too?"

Becca couldn't help but smirk: "A long time ago"

"Why'd you stop?"

"Because...There comes a time when... When something serious goes down, and you're family needs you to be there when it counts. That's when you realize, it's time to grow up a little, and start doing things with a little more responsibility"

"Yeah but, surly it isn't all work all the time?" Lizzy frowned

"Hell no, we'd have _all _gone insane a long time ago if we didn't have a little fun every now and then" Becca replied, "But for times like these: _thinking _you know how to handle something like this isn't up for debate. You let the experts take the lead, and trust in them to know what to do right"

"That's why you trust Morri? Cuz she knows how to lead?"

"I may not have known her for as long as I've known Sam and the others; but I _do_ know she's good at stuff like this. She's cool under pressure, smart, patient-"

"-Never let's anyone bullshit her around?" Lizzy raised a skeptical eyebrow, to which Becca sighed in exasperation, "There's a difference: between _getting _someone's attention, and _gaining _someone's trust. With you, it's not about whose got the bigger attitude or ego to be in charge. It's about _listening_, and learning to follow _someone else's _lead. Look, she's a cool person to hang with; she doesn't verbally beat-down on _any_ of us, because we don't give her any reason to. We respect each other: we pay attention to each other: it's called give and take; you gotta give a little to get a little"

"*Pft*, you know you sound like my mom, right?" Lizzy couldn't help but smile, though this time it wasn't with blase ignorance.

"Well, maybe she was right" Becca stated matter-of-factly, "But either way, you gotta start paying attention and start pulling you're weight"

"Or what? You'll beat the snot outta me?"

Realizing Lizzy still wasn't a hundred percent won over with this: Becca couldn't help but state: "...You won't be doing yourself any favors; and furthermore, it won't _just_ be you that'll be hurt because of it..."

Confused, Lizzy sighed: "No offense, but what the hell's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Becca sat there, contemplating what else she could say that would get her to listen: but before she had a chance to speak, the sound of footstep's echoing off the cave walls grabbed her attention as Roxy approached them. Max soon appeared too as she climbed down one of the sloping sides of the cave. "Hey, anything going down?" Roxy asked.

"Nothing, we just got up" Lizzy replied.

"Where's Morri at?" Max asked

"Up there..." Roxy pointed to the mouth of the cave; looking up to where she was pointing, Lizzy and Becca were both surprised to see Morri crouched down on a ledge some twenty feet away from the Insecticon guard, with her arm outstretched into the air. She seemed to be doing something with her CTG, when suddenly; the con gave out a low sluggish grumble as it shifted slightly. Deciding not to chance her luck any further, Morri swiftly, but steadily climbed back into the cave, and rejoined the girls.

"Is he awake?" Roxy asked worryingly

"Just barely, but I don't want to risk chancing anything if he's sensitive to movement or sound" Morri replied a she stopped to get her breath back, "...Where's Chelsea?" she asked, looking around, and not seeing a sign of her anywhere.

"Back here!" Chelsea hissed as she came jogging out of the darkness, "Sorry I've been gone so long!"

"I'll say! Where the hell have you been?! You've been gone nearly an hour!" Max frowned disapprovingly.

"Sorry, But I think I found our way outta here" Chelsea smiled

"What?!" Lizzy sat upright: at the same time, Firefly woke up and blinked in amazement "Where?" she groggily demanded.

"There's a passageway right at the back of the cave, that goes straight through the hill to a gorge on the other side: it's a hike, but it looks too small for the con's to fit in" she smiled

"Huh, so that confirms it" Morri smiled as she looked at a satellite photo on her CTG, "Confirms what?" Roxy raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, the jamming signal these bugs are emitting is still in place: but I was reading the output on my CTG's frequency scanner a couple of hours ago, and the signal seems to revolve on a cycle that goes around once every two minutes; so I timed it to when it hits it's low point. And sure enough, I managed to get a hit on our GPS co-ordinates (good thing there was a satellite passing right overhead)" Morri explained.

"Great, so _where are we_ exactly?" Lizzy butted in.

"That's where this turns into a good-news-bad-news scenario: the bad news is we are smack-bang in the middle of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountain range, _at least_ a day's drive from anywhere. But the good news is the jamming signal is set to a low frequency, which means there's a good chance it might only have a two mile radius at the most"

"Fine, but how's _that_ gonna help?" Firefly frowned

"Before the GPS readings cut out, I got a satellite snap-shot of the hundred mile radius we're in; there's an old logging road about three miles south of here: and about ten miles south along that, there's an old abandoned ranger's station. If I can get to that to the top of that station I'll be able to send out a distress signal, without the mountain topography obscuring the signal's line-of-sight"

"Great! Let's do it!" the green femme smiled

"There's just one problem, "Chelsea interjected sheepishly, "The passage is way too small for you to fit in"

"What? But we can't leave her here!" Lizzy protested

"And we're not going to" Morri assured her, "There's got to be another way we can all get out safely" she added as she started thinking of an alternative plan.

"Surely there must be _something_: I'm pretty small femme, I can fit in most places you know?" Firefly scoffed

"There's no other way out through the cave that's larger, but there_ is_ a big chamber which you might be able to fit in; it shaped like a U-turn so if the bugs see your gone, they won't be able to grab you" Max threw in

"But what if they blast the cave with their cannons and just dig her out later?" Becca asked,

"Not likely" Morri replied, "See the rock the cave is made out of? That's all granite with quartz veins; quartz absorbs plasma energy easily, so it's likely that, while the initial blast might do a lot of damage, the energy particles that create the bulk of the explosive chain-reaction will be absorbed and neutralized by the quartz molecular structure"

"You really think that will work?" Firefly asked concernedly

"Considering this is unprocessed quartz, I can't say with a hundred percent certainty: but we use it all the time in the armoury to absorb any excess discharge from the plasma and ion-charged weapons, so it's the best option we got right now" was all Morri could offer.

"Okay: so what else do we do now?" Roxy asked as she folded her arms

"Now that we have a way out, our first priority is to get the kids out, and get Firefly into that chamber" Morri stated, "Max, Chelsea, help me move Firefly: Roxy, get everyone up and tell them what we're going to do, we got to be ready to go by the time Firefly's secure"

"Fine" Roxy nodded as she went to stir Violet and the others awake, Becca crawled back to Becky and Jay-jay to get them up too. Watching the Insecticon guard carefully for any sign of movement, Firefly got up and gently scooted on her aft-plates backwards, trying to stay as quiet as possible while Max and Chelsea guided her to the back of the cave; the pain in her side had subsided to a dull throb, but still, she was careful not to knock or strain it in any way.

"What about me?" Lizzy asked

"Still the same as before: stay with the others" Morri stated

This time, Lizzy didn't contend her order: she glanced over at Becca, who simply offered a look of disappointment.

* * *

At the same time: elsewhere:

"It would seem the Insecticons decided to stop for a quick snack, before taking off again" Majestrix observed as her party inspected and scanned the devastated fuel depot; all the tanks had been ripped apart and drained of their contents (and considering the scale of the damage, it had been a miracle the whole place didn't go up in flames).

"Since when are they ever _not_ hungry?" Blackshot replied nonchalantly.

"Good point" Majestrix replied, "Anything to report?" she called out to the others.

"Good news, the youngling's were definitely here, _and_ still alive" Ravage called back as he sniffed the ground, to which the Autobot guardians all let out a sigh of relief. "I don't smell any blood either, so none of the humans were hurt" Ashley threw in.

"But I _do _smell Firefly's energon's, not a great quantity, but enough to suggest she was injured" the panther added as he climbed back up into Deathshot's cockpit, followed by his student. Glancing at each other in worry, the three VW sister's anxiety spiked a little, as they wondered just how bad Firefly's injury was.

As Deathshot secured his passengers, he sensed Velocity come up behind him, and a small ping on his privet comm frequency indicated she wanted to speak to him secretly: **: Listen, before anything else happens, I just wanted to say I'm **_**so sorry**_** for what happened. Perhaps if I'd been there I might have been able to get to Morri in time; but I-**

**: -Look, don't beat yourself up, none of us knew the cons would change direction like that; I doubt there's anything you **_**could **_**have done to stop them anyway:** Deathshot replied, **: ...But even so, why didn't you comm me to say you weren't comming? :**

**: What? But I **_**did**_** comm you, right before the cons were spotted on the long-range scanners; didn't you receive me? :** Velocity replied concernedly

Deciding to save it for later, Deathshot replied, **:...We'll sort this out when we get back; for now, just concentrate on finding the younglings: **

"So time is now a premium, if it's a life-threatening wound" Majestrix frowned, "Alright, there's nothing much else we can do here, Transform and roll out!" she barked as she jumped up into the air, transformed into her jet-mode and took off, followed the other flyers while the ground-based Autobots did their best to keep up with them over the dense forested terrain.

**: Um? We've got a serious problem...:** Deathshot interrupted,**: The con's energon trail splits seven ways: **

Scanning the ground, the Autobots were dismayed to find that, indeed, the energon trail split off seven ways: each heading in a different direction into the mountains and vast endless forest.

**: Now what? Split up and search? : **Velocity asked

**: Spot on. Crystalwing, Twilightveil, you're both with me. Blackmoon, Acidwing, Obsidian, you take the second. Deathshot, Thundercracker, you'll both the take the third. Skywarp and Lazerbeak take the fifth. Buzzsaw and Portia, you'll take the sixth. Blackshot, Eclipse, Velocity, you'll have the seventh. And Trailbreaker, you, Bluestreak and the femme's will take the seventh from the ground. Maintain comm silence and stay sharp, those cons could be anywhere out there: **Majestrix ordered.

**: Copy that:** everyone replied as they paired up with their partners and headed off in the seven various directions.

**: Prime, this is Majestrix: when you pick this message up we'll be somewhere over the Sierra's, it looks like the younglings are still alive, and the cons have gone with the 'divide and confuse' ruse. They split up in seven directions to lead us around on a wild turbo-goose-chase. Hope you're 'dino-hunt' is going a little better: Majestrix out:**

* * *

At the same time, somewhere west of the Californian state border:

"Ah frag it!" Jetfire grumbled as he gazed down at the giant crater in the side of the rise, "Looks like ol' 'Grimmy' still knows how to give us the slip!"

"And how to stay ahead by the looks of things..." Ultra Magnas frowned as he inspected the nine sets of giant dinosaur footprints leading away from the landing site: "I'd say they must have landed here well over three hours ago; they know they've got to get within range of the cons before they pick up their scent"

"Fortunately, it looks like the Insecticon's tactics might buy us some time" Prime replied

"Sir?" Bumblebee asked

"I just received a silent comm message from Majestrix; the younglings are still alive, and the Insecticons have split up to mask their trail into the Sierra's; creating seven different energon trails" Prime explained

"Okay, well at least that buy's us _some time_ to get ahead of Grimlock, and get the drop on the cons before _he_ does" Jetfire sighed

"But that still doesn't bring us any closer to finding the younglings" Ultra Magnas pointed out.

"Perhaps not, but right now it's the best chance the younglings have" Prime stated, "...Unless, they have already found a way out of their predicament..."

* * *

Elsewhere, NEST Base:

"So wait, let me get this straight. You managed to give the cons the slip by jumping into the reservoir?" Wheeljack blinked in surprise.

"No, we didn't jump! We fell," Jeanie explained, "When those bugs snagged us and took off, the downdraft from their wings was so strong that my jeans ripped and I fell: Hailey, Allie and Rosy tried to grab me but their pants ripped, and so they fell too"

"Considering that was a fifty foot drop, you girls were damn lucky not to have broken you're necks!" Glen gasped

"That doesn't make me feel any better, considering _we_ were the ones that got off lucky..." Allie sulked from where she sat atop one of the computer terminals.

"Look, don't beat yourself up, what happened, happened: it wasn't anyone's fault" Wheeljack assured her in a soft tone. "Plus, they were _Insecticons_, there wasn't much else you could do anyway" Que added.

"...I just hope their all okay" Allie replied quietly

"I'm worried sick too" Hailey offered, "But I know my sister's: if their alive, then so are the others. This isn't the first time we've been in the shits"

"That's true" Tom sighed, "And if Morri's with them, they'll _definitely_ be alright"

"How can you know for sure?" Rosy asked

"...I don't" Tom reluctantly admitted, "But I know my cousin, and I know she'll get them through this...she always does"

As the kids continued to talk, Ratchet quietly slipped away into the back room of the med-bay, and logged into the computer terminal (the one that was accessible only to him); typing in the commands, he brought up the live data-feed from Ashley's DNA scanner and stared at the incoming data with a concerned frowned. "...What in Primus's name is going on?" he whispered under his breath as he read through the data; it didn't make any sense: and worse still, from what he was reading, it looked like something was on the verge of happening...

"Please. Just _hold on_, until they gets them back..." the medic preyed.

Suddenly, there was a commotion over the comms, as frantic and angry voices began slinging back and forth, barking orders and telling the Autobots and NEST personnel to defend the entrance. Rushing back to the Command center in double-quick time, Ratchet burst into the room to find the Prowl and the other Autobots and humans in a state of near panic.

"What's wrong?! Are there casualties coming in?!" he demanded

"No! Look who's at the front door!" Prowl angrily pointed to the monitor.

"Whoa! Are those the 'Dinobot' guys?" Rosy gawked as she stared at the security camera feed of nine HUGE robotic dinosaurs, nonchalantly strolling up to the base's entrance, as if they were about to crash a sorority party.

"Aw frag..." Ratchet's face soured, "Okay, I'll prep the med-bay: you just concentrate on slowing them down"

"Can't you just stop them?" Glen asked desperately

"Stop _Grimlock?!-_" Prowl gawked, but Glen just stared up at him dumbly: face palming his forehead with a loud CLANG! Prowl just passed a heavy sigh and got back to work; it would take too long to explain why the doors wouldn't be enough to stop the , let alone the rest of the reserve Autobot forces. "...Just find somewhere to hide and stay there_! Don't come out _until I give the all-clear! Understand?"

"Uh, sure..." Glen nervously replied as he and Darren grabbed the girls by the arms and ran out of the command center; "Wait! What's going on?" Jeanie demanded. "Don't know, and right now, I _don't_ think I _need_ to know!" Glen replied frantically.

Outside, Grimlock and the Dinobots pushed and shoved the other Autobots aside as they came out to try and stop them; as they approached the huge reinforced metal doors, Cerberus stood with all three of his heads hunched over, his maws drooling and teeth bared as he growled dangerously at the . "Hello Cerberus: nice to know you still remember me..." Grimlock smiled as he punched the giant hellhound out cold with one hefty swing of his club-like fist: "And if you're here, that can only mean you're mistress and her lackeys are too"

"So what's the plan?" his second in command casually asked as he swatted Cliffjumper away with one effortless backhand, crashing him into a pile of boulders some two hundred yards away. "If those bugs are still hungry, then it makes sense to take some bait along to draw them out" Grimlock replied as he flicked Beachcomber out the way with his middle claw.

"Somehow, I don't think Prime will be wanting to give up any 'willing' volunteers" the pterodactyl replied as he casually stood there, holding Blurr in a headlock while the poor bot struggled to free himself. "Then let's see if there's anyone in the brig; Prime was never one for capital punishment, so we'll just 'relieve' him of any unwanted troublemakers" the Dinobot leader smiled as he pried the doors open and let himself in.

Down below, the humans and Autobots waited in fear as the base's security tried to stop the giants from progressing any further: but to no avail; their armor was too thick, their bulk was too big, and they just swatted them aside as if they were nothing more than a swarm of annoying flies buzzing around their heads. As they watched the fight/struggle on the security monitors, everyone couldn't believe this was happening.

"_Who the pit_ _are these freaks?!_" Jolt gawked in horror.

"Unwelcome guests..." Prowl replied as he readied his gun, calibrating it to its highest setting: molecular vaporization. As Grimlock forced open the door to the command center, he unleashed the gun's full payload right in the 's face. Within seconds the whole room lit up in a blinding red light as the plasma spewed out in a bombardment of energy that vaporized everything it touched...

Everything, except the , who was _still_ standing: his head and shoulder's completely blackened from the carbon of the partially vaporized door-frames and ceiling panels. Smiling with a broad rictus grin, Grimlock looked down at the SIC: "Nice to see you again, Prowl; I see you haven't changed much"

"Neither have you" Prowl scowled up at the giant.

"Nice digs you got, a fitting base for a commander like myself"

"You're no commander, and _you_ were not invited"

"Invited? Oh come on, we're all Autobots here: since when did any of us need an invitation? ..." Grimlock smiled as he shoved the SIC to one side and strolled over to the main computer terminal. "Ugh, I see you have an organic infestation. Better take care of that before they start _breeding_" he grimaced with disgusts as he picked the humans up one by one off the terminal and threw them over his shoulders; Prowl and the other Autobots hurried to catch them before one of the other Dinobots was tempted to snap them up. Placing them down in a safer corner of the room, the Autobots were now well and truly irate as the Dinobots helped themselves to the computers.

"Sawtooth, who's in the brig?" Grimlock ordered

"What? Why do you want to know who's in the brig?" Prowl demanded

"Because, I just do" Grimlock shrugged: "There's two: Longrange and Coldbore" the Dinobots SIC replied

"Ah yes, our old friends" the smiled, "Swoop, Leviathan, Carnage: keep an optic on things up here, while the rest of us go and say 'hi' to some old friends" he added as he transformed back into his mode, and led the others out the room. Meanwhile, Swoop and the other two giants stood there sheepishly as they received a whole room full of angry glares.

"What everybot looking at?" Carnage asked dumbly as he sniffed the air

"That would be us" Swoop replied

"Huh?"

In hardly any time at all, the Dinobots got down to the brig, swatted away the guard (in this case, poor Smokescreen) and crashed through the huge vault-like door. The two Autobot snipers had already been awakened by the commotion, thinking it had been a Decepticon attack that was creating the ruckus above them: their surprise couldn't be any greater than when they saw the leader of the Dinobots stroll in with his team by his side.

"Well well: long time no see" Grimlock smiled

"Grimlock?" Longrange gawked

"Who else?"

"Wh-what are _you_ doing here?"

"Hunting some bugs; which is why I came here to see you two; I need snipers, good ones: that will cover us from the air. Swoop and Skyblade are excellent flyers, but their no sharp-shooters. I need crack-shots who'll get the job done. Ergo..." Grimlock stated as he smashed the stasis-field generators to pieces, causing the machine and its counter-parts in all the other cells to explode from the blow-back of stasis energy going critical. The two snipers shielded themselves as best they could until the explosion ceased. "...You're both hired. And don't worry about you're 'commander', I'll vouch for you"

Longrange might have been brash and cocky to no end, but he wasn't dumb when it came to someone like _Grimlock_; he remembered this mech, and knew too well to want to argue with_ him_, and so without any arguments, he and Coldbore left the cells. As the other Dinobots wrapped an arm around them both and started bantering with threatening undertones: the small Utah-raptor fell back, and hopped his way up onto the 's back: "Not that I'm questioning this plan boss, but considering who _these two_ are, they're not gonna be the easiest lackeys to control" he whispered in a hushed snarky voice.

"You forget who they belong to Scytheslash" Grimlock smiled slyly, "And if they haven't changed much from when we worked together on that so-called 'hostage' situation back in the Xion system, then this little hunt's going to go just fine..."

Coldbore frowned; his sharp audios didn't miss their privet conversation, and as they proceeded back up to the main level: something told him this was going to become a very tricky situation to get out of. And no sooner had his assumptions of how this was going to pan out had been made up: the surprises kept coming as they rounded the corner, and saw Prime standing there with his main cannon aimed at them: his officers at his back, looking like they were ready to bring it on.

"Ah Optimus Prime! How long's it been 'old friend'" the sneered mockingly as he shoved his way to the front.

"Not long enough 'Grimlock'" Prime frowned, "Now put the prisoners back in their cells and surrender yourselves"

"Who? These two?" Sawtooth smirked, thumbing over at the snipers, "We're just borrowing them for a lil' bit, seeing as their kinda going to waste an' all"

"It's a covert op that requires covert operatives, and these two fit the bill for what I need doing" Grimlock stated.

"You barge in here, treat my troops with disrespect and contempt, and then have the gall to take two convicted prisoners out of their cells, without _my_ clearance or authority..." Prime stated in a low dangerous tone, getting right up in the 's face (despite the fact he towered over the Prime by well over twenty feet!), "None of you are going anywhere. There are lives at stake, and I don't have time to argue over this"

"Well, you know how these things go, there's always going to be collateral damage when there are hostages involved" Grimlock smirked: Prime was about to lay into the huge hulking beast, when Coldbore broke the tension:

"You said there were hostages" he interjected, "How many?" he asked in his usual, quiet cold tone.

A little taken aback, Prime replied: "Twelve; three younglings plus nine humans"

"Who took them?"

"Insecticons"

For a brief moment, a look of dire concern flashed across Coldbore's face as his serious expression turned even more serious: "You're going to need help; if those beasts are at large you're going to need every available troop at your disposal" he stated.

"But you're-

"-_Not_ entirely cold-sparked" Coldbore stated firmly, "I may not have much sympathies for the humans, but I'm _not_ about to let three innocent sparklings die. Not like that"

Prime studied the sniper and his young counterpart intensely: he didn't trust them, but he knew he had no choice; Insecticons were _not_ the easiest of opponents by a long shot, and would need an army to help bring them down.

"Well? Oh _selfless leader_: What's it going to be? Are you going to let us finish this? Or are you going to leave the 'little ones' to their fates" Grimlock egged him on, knowing full well how Prime had a soft-spot for younglings and the like; the other Autobots were tempted to slug him right in the jaw; but as he bared his knife-like teeth in that odious rictus grin, nobody dared moved.

As his troops watched on in nervous anticipation, Prime then passed a heavy disappointed sigh, and reluctantly replied: "_Just remember who the Prime is here_," he growled, "If you _ever_ do anything to make me suspect that you'll overstep the mark, I'll-

"-You'll what?," Grimlock purposely leaned down right into his face, "You're going to do _what_ exactly? ..." he pushed him, but as Prime held his anger back, Grimlock's smile only grew broader: "...Heh, I didn't think so..." the scoffed as he barged past Optimus, followed by his troops. Before they could take another step forward, both Coldbore and Longrange felt Jetfire's heavy hands clamp down on their shoulders as he leaned in to threaten them; "If either of you so much as _look_ at the humans the wrong way; there will not be _a single_ nook or cranny in this entire star system that will be able to conceal you from me. You got that? ..." he growled, and them promptly frog-marched them to base's entrance.

"Prime, this is _not_ a good idea!" Ironhide stated angrily in a hushed voice

"...I _know_" Prime replied bitterly; he looked like he wanted to say more, but didn't. Knowing the history he shared with the Dinobots and their leader, Ironhide knew better than to push the subject, and so didn't press him. The other Autobots too were very dubious of their leader's choice in tactics, but knowing that same history, they all knew better than to question his wisdom on the subject (which in all retrospect, was probably not a bad idea round about now)

As they watched Prime and his troops follow the Dinobots back up to the base's entrance, Sam and Mikaela looked at one another with dire concern. Having overheard the whole confrontation from the top-most walkway of an adjacent wall, on the opposite side of a nearby intersection; their concerns for Morri and the others went from dire, to a 'cold-knot-in-the-stomach' sort of worried.

* * *

At the same time:

**: It's me, we're out:**

**: Both of you? :**

**: Yes, and I have to say, that was a **_**very**_** reckless move. I know you said you'd get us out, but using the Dinobots? That's courting danger:**

**: That was **_**not **_**my design, but in any case you're out and that's all that matters:**

**: So what are your orders now? : **

**: If Grimlock's got you on his leash then he won't be too difficult for you to shake off, it's Majestrix you need to worry about. Fly on up here and meet us at the rendezvous point: our window of opportunity is very small so not a second can be wasted. And when the Insecticons eventually go on the offence things are going to get very tricky, we'll need to return to provide our alibis:**

**: Very well, over and out: **

* * *

Meanwhile, back up in the Sierra's:

"Wow, it's pretty big in here" Sparklestar said offhand as she looked all around the wide chamber, while Morri used her CTG's miniature welding laser to treat Firefly's wound as best she could. Pausing to check her work over, she nodded with approval: "Okay, there's not much I can do for your T-cog, but I've managed to stem the bleeding" she told the green femme. "Okay" Firefly huffed as she tried to make herself comfortable amid the smooth water-worn rocks.

"Providing you don't go taking any liberties, it should hold; now the last thing to take care of here, is whose going to stay with her?" Morri addressed the group, the girls looked at one another in concern, "What do you mean_ stay _with her?" Roxy retorted.

"I'm not leaving her on her own Roxy, she may be safer in the chamber, but that patch-job I did is only superficial: she _needs_ a medic. Plus, if the cons look in here and see that we're gone, I'm going to need _someone_ to get down the passage to give us the head's up" Morri explained

"Fine, I'll stay" Lizzy stated

"No way, you're coming with us" Morri replied firmly

"What?! Oh come on!" the teenager retorted

"You're going!" Roxy smacked her up-side the head, "If something happens and we have to bring you home in a pine box_: just what the hell_ am I suppose to tell mom and dad, huh?"

"Fine, then why don't _you _stay with Fly', and _I'll_ take that thing on your arm to the ranger's station!" Lizzy glared at Morri.

"Firstly, The CTG has some pretty air-tight security features; it won't work for anyone else but _me_: my DNA, heart, breathing, blood pressure and brain signals are the only 'passwords' it'll accept" Morri stated, "And secondly, you're _not _coming with me. Time is not a luxury we can afford to waste, and you'll only slow me down"

"Nuh-uh!-" Lizzy shook her head, "I'd keep up just fine!"

"Really? Through thick forest and over rough ground: with the likelihood of running into one of those bugs? Or maybe even a bear or mountain lion?" Morri shot back, "Or say something else happened, if I tripped or fell and needed medical help, do you know how to brace a broken leg, or treat a head injury? Or if we got separated and couldn't find each other, would you know how to retrace your steps without a compass? :

Lizzy was taken aback: she really _did_ know what she was talking about, and as Morri stepped closer with that unwavering look in her eye, she got the distinct feeling she shouldn't have spoken out like that. "...But more importantly, you've not given me _a single reason_ to believe you'd act responsibly: like I told you last night, if you continue to act the way you do, and treat this like its one big Saturday morning cartoon adventure, then I'm keeping you out of harm's way, and everyone else's...You don't seem to get the point of what I'm telling you: _any recklessness is going to put us in danger_; if you make yourself exposed, we're _all _exposed..." Morri stated sternly, the tone in her voice made it clear the subject was not up for debate; "...And if anyone _does_ have any objections: _please_, speak them out now" she added in a more passive tone. Looking at one another, the others all shook their heads.

"Um? If makes any difference? I still can't sense my mom. I've been listening for her all night, but I don't sense her or the others anywhere nearby" Sparklestar offered in a quiet voice.

"Okay" Morri nodded in a friendlier tone,

"And just so we don't start arguing over it again: _I'll_ stay with Firefly" Roxy huffed

"You're sure?" Morri frowned in concern

"Yes" Roxy rolled her eyes, "I'll keep an eye on her okay?"

"Fair enough: but the second you think something's about to go down, you hide and keep your heads down, you understand?" Morri stated

"Like duh? As if I'm gonna give_ those_ oversized freaks a knuckle sandwich (the only thing that'll break is my manicure)"

"And I'll go with you to the ranger's station" Max added

"Are you sure? It's ten miles straight through the forest, it's not going to be easy an easy trek" Morri warned,

"Hey, a couple of miles through a bear and cougar infested forest is a cakewalk compared to Tranquility on a Friday night: trust me, I got you're back"

"And I'll help the twin's look after the kids" Chelsea threw in,

Looking around, and seeing that their minds were already made up: Morri nodded, "Okay, then let's go. I'll take point: Chelsea, Max, you bring up the rear" and without anything further to say, the youngsters all left the chamber.

As she climbed over the rocks, Lizzy looked back at Firefly, wondering if she'd really be okay; "Don't worry about me, it'll take more than a few bugs to stop this scout" the green femme smiled. Lizzy smiled back, and climbed out to join the others.

"Seriously though, _are_ we gonna to be okay, right?" Roxy thought aloud as she sat down next to the scout.

"I can't believe I'm saying this" Firefly admitted reluctantly, "...But for the first time in my life; I honestly don't know?"

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Sierra's:

**: I still got nothing:** Thundercracker huffed

**: Nothing here either. What were these bugs doing? Did they hit the high grade or somethin? :** Skywarp replied

**: Nothing here either, but keep looking: they've got to be here somewhere:** Majestrix replied; but as her scanners looked out over the vast endless wilderness, it wasn't hard to understand why so many human hikers and walkers go missing in these mountains every year: and why they were hardly ever found (if at all).

As she tipped her left wing down to back to the right; two familiar signals popped up on her long-range scanners, approaching fast from the south. Outraged, Majestrix fired up her thrusters, barrel-rolled back around, and deliberately flew straight between them, nearly knocking them out of the sky.

**: What in Primus's name are **_**you two**_** doing here?! :** She bellowed angrily over the comm. As Longrange and Coldbore corrected themselves, Crystalwing and her daughter came into fly right over them in a threatening manner.

**: Newsflash, we got day-passes: courtesy of Grimlock: **Longrange stated sarcastically; Majestrix's engines nearly backfired, the mention of that mech's name made her internal face plates curl with seething rage.

**: Prime informed us of what happened: **Coldbore replied coolly, :**We're here to help you find and procure the younglings. And as soon as this is over, we will return to our cells; but for now, Prime will need all the help he can get if those Insecticons come for us:**

**: Plus, ol' 'Grimmy' wants us to lure those beasts out with some good old fashioned sniper action:** Longrange threw in, **: He and his buddies will be joining the party soon enough, so if it's okay with you, we'll duck out and wait 'till the action starts: **he smiled as he and Coldbore barrel-rolled out from under Crystalwing's underside and engaged their stealth-modes, disappearing from sight and scanner in mid-air

**: What the FRAG?! AAUGH! :** The Prima roared angrily, **: I **_**can't believe**_** that frag-headed brute would let them out! : **

**: Do you want me to go after them? : **Crystalwing asked tentatively

**: No, I'll see to them later; if the bugs don't get them, I **_**certainly will**_**: **she growled, **: You just concentrate on trying to find Sparkle', can you sense anything yet? :**

**: I know she's here, I can sense her presence down there somewhere; but I can't tell if she's scared, injured, or just out of range. It's frustrating" **Crystalwing sighed.

* * *

Half an hour later, back down on the ground:

The passageway was well hidden between the twisting rocks and overlapping flattened boulders, and once inside, it widened out into a sizable tunnel that sloped downwards in the direction of the opposite side of where the cliff-face was situated. After climbing down the last few hundred yards, the youngsters emerged into a smaller cave that opened out into a tall, vertically narrow gorge. "Wow, good call Chelsea" Morri smiled as she looked around; the gorge was only about ten meters at its widest, and at the top, the walls came together, leaving a five meter gap; much too small for the Insecticons to squeeze through.

"Okay, so where do we go from here?" Lizzy asked

"There's a much bigger cave around the corner, just past the end of the gorge. You might wanna watch your step though, it's a pretty big drop" Chelsea warned as she motioned for everyone to follow. Climbing over the large wet boulders, following the course of the small river as it cut through the gorge, the youngsters traveled for another seven hundred meters or so before the gorge opened out and the water cascaded down into the forest below, dropping down a sheer cliff that descended nearly eight hundred feet straight down...

"Whoa!" Annabelle exclaimed, "I ain't never seen anything so big before!"

"Ditto..." Chelsea breathed in amazement.

Following her gaze to see what she was looking at: the youngsters beheld the endless Sierra Mountains, spread far and wide before them. Stretching from horizon to horizon, the endless green forests and towering mountains were lit up in the dawn's early light; bright pink and radiant orange coloured the vast landscape, as pale blue clouds rolled and cascaded down into the valleys below. And overhead, the parting clouds painted the sky with radiant red, pink and golden light, while the far western sky was still shrouded in the remains of the dark blue night.

"Wow" Sparklestar breathed, "This is the rest of the earth?"

"Only a fraction" Morri smiled, "But it's still pretty big"

There were no words for this: nothing that could describe her amazement at seeing this vast wilderness. All her life, the only landscape Max had ever known was that which consisted of concrete, glass, brick and tarmac: right angles, straight lines, and purposely shaped curves; everything man had created for his own comfort and convenience. Living in the city virtually all her life, she had only ever heard of places like this in books or on the internet; sure there no reasons to doubt they existed, and there was no cause to contest why they shouldn't be real. But seeing it with her own eyes? Those books and internet sites didn't do it any justice _in the least_. And to hear the wind as it rose up the valley: bringing the fresh scent of pine, earth and water, coupled with the sounds of all the native creatures that dwelt among the trees. She realized, for the first time in her life, just _how small_ the scope of her world really was...

"...It's endless..." was all Max found she could say.

"...Come on, the caves just down there" Chelsea pointed to a wide ledge that led from the waterfall into the forest. Another five hundred yards of carefully negotiating the rocks and steep sloping ground soon brought them to a huge narrow cave that cut upwards into the rocky cliff-face; the entrance was narrow and well hidden by the tall densely packed trees, and the piled boulders at the entrance would provide an even more obscure view (should any unwanted cons pass overhead). The cave itself was just the right hiding place: while the entrance was narrow, the main chamber opened out into a broad space that extended up into the rock for a good two hundred yards.

"Brilliant, this'll certainly do for cover" Morri smiled

"So where's that logging road from here?" Becky asked

"Okay..." Morri turned to her CTG, and brought up the satellite image once again. "Well we walked a good mile through the mountain, because here's the gorge...this must be the waterfall...which means this cave should be somewhere here..." she pointed to the hologram, trying to work up a rough mental map of the topography in her mind as she studied the image. As she used her telepathic ability to 'watch' her mind work, Sparklestar was amazed at how near-accurately Morri was able to process topographical data; despite the fact her brain wasn't mechanical at all: this is how organic minds work? (Or part of it at least) It was both strange and fascinating to watch.

"-Which should mean the road is _somewhere_ at the bottom of the slope, about two miles in _that_ direction" Morri pointed out the mouth of the cave.

"Okay. So what now? We wait until the guys come looking for us?" Annabelle asked

"Pretty much; it's going to take us most of the morning to get to the ranger's station, so just stay put and don't wander off. And if you hear the sound of those bugs wings: move as far to the back of the cave as you can and _stay silent_. The bugs don't know that we're gone yet, so stealth is the only weapon we have going for us right now. _Don't leave unless you absolutely have to_. Understand?" Morri stated

"Yeah, sure thing" Chelsea nodded

"Okay, I guess we'll see you all later then" Morri replied as she turned to leave,

"Good luck!" Annabelle waved good bye, "Watch out for the bugs!" Sparklestar called out.

"Hey, be careful out there..." Chelsea said as she laid a hand on Max's shoulder, "This isn't the same forest as Tranquility; don't worry, I got this covered..." Max smiled as she returned the gesture, and then turn to leave with Morri.

The two girls climbed out of the cave, and stepped towards where the steep forest floor virtually dropped down, disappearing among the trees, seemingly going on and on forever. "So...How're we going to do this?" Max took a deep breath, "A hundred yard drop down there's a broken neck: guaranteed"

"We take it one step at a time: use the trees like giant ladder runs, and look before you leap" Morri advised as she gingerly stepped down the slope towards the first tree, using its tangled root system as a perch before carefully running down to the next tree below. Watching her technique, Max soon followed suite, and before long they were both tree-root hopping their way down the slope; all the while preying they wouldn't accidentally slip and break their necks, or worse, tumble down all the way to the bottom.

* * *

**Well? The Dinobots have officially crashed the party; the question now is, who's going to be stuck with the cheque?**

**One way or another, it's only going to heat up from here on out ;)**

**Much love, and do stick around to R&R please!**


	6. Chpt 5: Escaped, & Hunted

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

* * *

HUNTERS MOON

Chapter 5: Escaped, and Hunted

The southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, sunrise:

As the sun peeked over the mountains and lit up the endless green forest, Crystalwing spotted something in the trees below,

**: Majestrix, look...:**

Training her scanner's down on the object; the unmistakable profile of the Insecticon lit up on her thermal scanner like a roman candle.

**: Hang back; I'll make this quick...:** Majestrix replied as she angled her nosecone downwards, cut her thrusters, and glided down head-on at the creature.

Transforming in mid-air, she unsheathed her wrist-blades and angled herself into a striking position. The Insecticon never even heard her coming, as in the blink of an eye she crashed down right next to it: using her terminal velocity to lend strength to her strike, decapitating the beast in one clean swipe. The head flew up high into the air, as the lifeless body slumped to the ground, and hot glowing energon stained the ground in a radiant electric blue. Getting back up and sheathing her blades, Majestrix froze when she spotted the red glowing optics staring at her from within the cave that was only two hundred yards away. "What a shame: and here I was hoping to see your usual performance" Grimlock growled with disappointment as he stepped out of the rocky hollow, followed by the other Dinobots.

Scowling with ire, Majestrix stood her ground as the stomped over towards her: catching the head as it fell back to the earth, and chomped it down in three metal-crushing bites; "Usually, you like to make a little sport; but a quick clean kill? That's not you're style"

"What are you doing here Grimlock?" Majestrix growled dangerously

"Hunting Insecticons: what else?" he scoffed, "It's all the fun that's left, now that the war's ground to a crawl"

"The war is over; and the all-spark is gone. _Forever_" she stated

"Yes, I heard about that. Terrible shame: but then, you're brother _was _always one for putting other species before his own kind. Now what 'responsible' leader would ever do a thing like that hm?" the taunted her.

"Save it _cretin!_" Majestrix shot back, "Now's not the time for your petty bid for power. Why did you let Coldbore and Longrange out of their cells?"

"Didn't they tell you? I need snipers, and I know for a fact you always like to keep a few spares" he lied

"I know that if you intend to use them as bait, they'll be long out of range before the cons ever get within a hundred miles of them"

"Oh I know: you trained them well enough," Grimlock smiled, to which Majestrix stared at him incredulously, "I just wanted to see the look on your brother's face. By the way: what _did _you lock them up for anyway?"

Majestrix didn't reply; she knew if she hinted at there being defectors in the Autobot ranks, Thundercracker and Skywarp wouldn't stand a chance against him. "Hm, so it's going to be like that is it? Oh well, back to the mission at hand. The bug you just killed was a scout, so I'm guessing his swarm won't be far behind" the replied.

"One less con for me to worry about" she stated, "It's their hostages I'm more concerned about"

"Ah yes, the hostages..." Grimlock smirked, "...Sort of brings back memories of our last 'hostage situation'. Do you remember? ..." he taunted her.

Before the knew what hit him: a blast of concentrated plasma energy knocked him high up in the air, before crashing down on his back with an earth-shaking BROOM! He didn't have time to get back up as Majestrix stood over him with a wrist-blade to his throat cables, while her still-smoking wrist-cannon folded itself back into her arm. As she stared down at him with all the fury and rage of a Valkyrie, the smiled as he pushed his luck even further: "Heh, are you going to do it this time? Or are you just going to cleave another chunk of my armor off again? ...Oh but wait. Only _you're twin brother_ would stoop so low: and we all know how much _he _enjoyed those little tortures..."

Majestrix didn't give him the satisfaction as she sheathed her blade and slugged him hard across the jaw with a resounding CLANG!

**: Crystalwing, Twilightveil, start scanning the vicinity. This Insecticon was a scout; his swarm won't be far away:** Majestrix commed her teammates as she walked away and stood out in a clearing between the trees. "_Just stay out of my way_: if you or any of your mechs even go within a _thousand yards_ of the younglings, I _will _oblige you. And I will make sure you stay awake, right up to the point I pluck out your spark-chamber from your chest!" she growled: and with that, she transformed and took off; angrily revving her thrusters as she soared away.

As Grimlock picked himself up and shook off the dirt and leaf litter, his Dinobots stepped over to his side; "Still the bitch as ever, huh boss?" Scytheslash smirked. "She's gone soft. There was a time she would've tried to kill me on site: 'guess her little 'goody-two-wheel's' brother is to thank for that" the scoffed

"So how're we gonna play this?" his SIC growled

"Stick close and let them flush the bugs out, they'll come to us one way or another, and _then_ we can feed" Grimlock smiled as he led the way, crashing and knocking over trees as his team barged their way through the thick forest, leaving a wide trail of destroyed vegetation in their wake.

Several miles away, Majestrix only fumed as Crystalwing and her eldest daughter breathed a sigh of relief for leaving those brutes behind.

**: If **_**he's **_**here, this is only going to get worse:** Crystalwing worried

**: Which is why I want you to send Shiningstar and Shadowstar down; try and pick up the bug's trail before Grimlock doe's:**

**: Understood:** Crystalwing replied as she activated her chest compartment's launch-mode, and fired out the two femmes like a couple of cannon balls. The sphinx-drones crashed down in the forest, where they unfurled from their protoforms and took off through the trees.

"I can't believe _he's_ involved!" Shiningstar huffed in annoyance

"Never mind those beasts, just stay focused on staying ahead of them!" Shadowstar barked back as she led the way.

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest:

"...How far now?" Max asked as she paused to catch her breath.

"Five point three miles: we're over half way there" Morri replied, checking the pedometer on her CTG.

"Good"

"Are you okay? I warned you this was a long hike" Morri stated

"I'm good; at least it beats trying to navigate the base" Max waved off, "But how're _you_ not out of breath yet?"

"I like to walk: helps me think better" Morri smiled as she set a slower pace for Max to walk to, "And where I come from, there're a lot of footpaths going just about everywhere in Porth Nev"

"Porth Nev? That's where you come from?"

"Yep, way down in the southwest country" Morri nodded, "It's a pretty simple place compared to here; but hey, it's where I was born and raised. There's no other place I know in and out as half as well"

"Huh" Max smirked, "Guess I could say the same about Tranquility; I've never really been anywhere else in my life"

The two girls walked a little further on in silence, before Max's thoughts prompted her to say: "...You know? (Not to sound like a suck-up or anything), but what you did back there with Lizzy? That was kinda ...overdue"

Morri glanced at her, and couldn't help but let a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth: "...Most people would be tempted to say, rebelliousness seems to run in your family"

"What do _you_ say?"

Morri's expression turned to a look of deep thought: "...I think yours is a family that's been burden with tragedy. When the parent's live in a state of denial or go about it the wrong way, more often than not it's the kids that receive the scars" she thought aloud

"...Yeah, I can vouch for that..." Max sighed quietly as she thought about her parents, and troubles they endured for all those years.

"Usually, I make it a rule not to pry: But Lizzy? She intrigues me"

"Intrigue?" Max blinked in surprised

"Well? Call me soft if you will: but I don't believe she's a bad kid at heart; just a stupid reckless teenager who hasn't learnt the value of humility yet" Morri replied, "Sort of like someone else Darren told me about..."

"...Oh" Max realized sheepishly. "...He told you about-, _that night?_"

"I was one of the first to arrive at the hospital" Morri offered her a sympathetic look: "...That was one hell of a beating you took; the doctors said it was a sheer miracle you didn't bleed out, and even more amazing, is the fact you're wounds have healed as well as they have".

Suddenly aware of the half-healed injuries on her arms and face, Max rolled down the sleeves of her hoodie, and pulled her hood over her head to try and obscure her face; aware of how conscious she was of her injuries, Morri placed a hand on her shoulder: "...You shouldn't be ashamed, not for what happened"

"No offense, but how would you know? ..." Max asked, trying not to come off as sarcastic: Morri replied by rolled up her sleeves, and showing her the jagged scars on both her arms. Noticing how deep they must have been, Max realized she must have been in a similar scenario to have received them (or worse): and the more she thought about it, the more she realized how it put her own injuries into perspective. "...How did you get those?"

"The ones on my left arm, I got from a bomb blast that took out fifteen buildings; my right arm: a nasty run-in with some very disturbing 'individuals'..." Morri replied as she rolled her sleeves down, "Ravage once told me, that scar's are nature's way of reminding us why we survive; why we weren't the ones who ended up dead, and why we strive to live, whatever the odds. I don't know if he's right or not: but I _do_ know we both survived what we went through for a reason"

"I guess? ..." Max thought aloud, "To be honest I'm still trying to figure out _why _I survived. I mean, it's not like I'd done anything in my life to _earn_ it; there are more better people out there that die every day, why couldn't one of them have been spared instead of me? ...I've hurt and wreaked my family's lives, all because I was selfish, and couldn't be asked to give a fuck. How does _that _qualify me to be given a second chance?" she let her gaze drop as regret and shame panged at the back of her mind.

"Can I give you a bit of advice?" Morri suggested; to which Max nodded: "...The truth is I honestly can't tell you. Divine intervention? Luck? Or just karma doing its thing in that age-old way we still don't understand. Think of it whatever you will, but _don't_ think too hard or long about it: trust me; that's one path of mental anguish you _don't_ need in your life. Neither you nor your family are obligated to try and work out why: you'll come to accept it in time, and when you reconcile the fact that it's past tense and done with; there's not much else left that'll be as terrible as it seems..."

"Seriously? ...You think?" Max replied dubiously

"Well, there _are no_ guarantees in life, just the predictably unpredictable. Like how you surprised everyone with your turn-around"

"Oh _please_," Max rolled her eyes, "No one believes I've changed"

"I do" Morri stated nonchalantly.

Max stopped in her tracks, and stared at the brunette, not quite believing she heard her correctly: "...You do?"

Morri stopped, and replied honestly: "...I do: you've made poor choices in life, but that doesn't make you a bad person, it just means you're learning curve was a tight one...and it's not just me, Chelsea believes in you"

"Yeah" Max rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Look, don't beat yourself up for what happened that night. What happened, happened: and if it hadn't been for you, Violet might not have made it out of Woodrow's place alive either" Morri smiled. At the mention of the latter, Max thought about how she got out of the cabin, and how it _really_ happened; guilt told her she had no excuse to lie, even by omission: and so with a heavy sigh, she awkwardly asked: "...Can I tell you something?"

Sensing it was something concerning, Morri nodded: "Sure"

"...The truth is: it _wasn't me_ who got Violet outta that place"

"What? But Darren said he and the girls found you outside in the bushes" Morri blinked in surprise.

"I know, but by _that _time Woodrow had beaten me up so bad I could hardly see straight, let alone try to stand up and run..." Max paused a moment, as she tried to find the right words to explain: "...Before he had a chance to take it any further; someone, this _old dude_, snuck into the cabin and knocked him out. He carried me outside and lay me down next to Violet: he then told me stay put, after which he ran off and disappeared"

Morri didn't quite know what to make of it, and simply asked: "...Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Max pressed her hand to her forehead as she sighed in exasperation: "I don't know? I was bleeding to death with a hole in my side: it wasn't like anything else was really important at the time. Afterwards, I initially thought he'd been some homeless guy passing through, overheard what was going and decided to play Good Samaritan"

Morri was about to ask something else, when something suddenly clicked in her mind: "...You said _initially_: was there anything that suggested to you he was _different_ from a regular homeless guy somehow?"

"...Well? ...I wasn't sure about mentioning it at the time, because I didn't know if-" Max tried to explain, but upon assuming it would be too lengthy to explain, she simplified her response: "...Okay, there was a moment, when: the guy laid me down and I saw his arms. Now at first I thought they were tattoos, but when I looked more closely, I realized they were those symbol- 'thingies' the Autobots-

Beep-beep-beep-beep

"... -Huh?" Max blinked in surprise

Looking down at her CTG, Morri froze as she read the hologram display.

"What's wrong?" Max frowned in concern

"The proximity alarm..." Morri replied in a hushed voice, "...There's a _big _mammal of some kind, about twenty feet behind me..."

Max froze in alarm as she looked over at the dense undergrowth directly behind Morri, and sure enough, there was a _huge_ dark mass partially obscured by a tree. It was covered in dark fur, and seemed to be standing on its hind legs as it used the tree to 'prop' itself upright. As Morri studied Max's expression, she knew she was looking at the creature in question, and from the way she was staring intently at it: it had to be something pretty disconcerting to spook her.

"What is it?" Morri asked anxiously.

"Can't tell" Max hastily replied with a nervous voice, "A bear or somethin'? I dunno, it's _fucking huge!_"

Slowly and as quietly as possible, Morri turned to face the undergrowth, and as she discreetly held up her CTG to scan it, the creature suddenly shifted; rising up to its full height, and steadily walked out onto the dirt road.

It wasn't a bear

It looked and walked like a man, but it wasn't any human.

The creature was nearly ten feet tall, covered in dark brown, almost black hair all over its body: its limbs were not proportionately correct for a human, as it had long arms and equally long robust legs, and a broad set of shoulders and chest that was of impossible size and volume for an ordinary man. But it was the face and head that _really_ got their attention; for instead of a round cranial crown, the top of its head was almost dome-shaped like a gorilla's sagittal crest: the eyebrows were prominent, as was the nose which was quite short with the nostrils wide-set.

"Uh Morri? What's a guy in a monkey suit doing here?" Max asked in bemusement

As the creature stared down at them with an intense look of concentration, Morri's bio-scanner pinged, and as she quickly glanced at the hologram, the colour drained from her face in alarm. "Max, that's _not_ a guy in a monkey suit!" she replied nervously,

And then without warning, the creature loudly grunted with a short sharp "UGHH!"

"SHIT!-" Max yelled as she and Morri bolted off the road and took off into the undergrowth, running down a steep slope. After covering about five hundred yards and not hearing anything behind them: the girls both slowed down, and chanced a glance back the way they'd came. The creature was gone, and as Morri scanned the whole forest, her CTG couldn't find anything either.

"_Definitely_ _not,_ a guy, in a monkey suit!-" Max panted as she tried to slow her breathing and regain her composure, "Shit, I never heard _anything _grunt that loud before"

"I know: it went right through my chest!" Morri breathed as she finished scanning the forest. "...Bloody hell"

"Is it still there?"

"No, it's gone; must've run off when we legged it" Morri assured her

"What the fuck _was that thing?_ A Bigfoot or somethin?" Max gawked; Unable to find a logical answer as to what it was, Morri simply looked at her as if to say 'I think you're right'.

"No..." Max breathed in disbelief, "No way! It couldn't have been a-

"-Shush! Listen!" Morri stopped her. Listening carefully, the distant sound of giant insect wings could be heard approaching...

"Shit!" Max panicked

"Quick! Hide!" Morri barked as she bolted for a large rocky over-hang that protruded out of the slope; the girls pressed themselves as far into the lee of the rock as their size would allow, and slowed their breathing right down as the giant beast came into hover above the trees.

For what felt like hours, the monster behemoth spun around as it seemed to be sniffing for something, or them: the powerful downdraft of its wings knocked branches and twigs out of the trees, and threw up all the leaf-litter on the forest floor. The girls both sweated bullets as they hoped and prayed the beast wouldn't find them. Finally, after a tense nerve-racking five minutes, the Insecticon took off, and only when they could no longer hear its wing beats, did Morri and Max cautiously peer out from under their hiding place.

"That was close" Max breathed with relief

"_Way too close_" Morri stated, "If they-

SNAP!

The sound of a nearby branch snapping made them both bolt back under the overhang, as the sound of metal plating lightly clacking together could be heard approaching.

Max frowned in alarm, what was it? "What-

"-Younglings?!" Portia exclaimed as she suddenly appeared overhead. Both girls yelled in fright: and before Portia could react, Max instinctively punched the spider-femme in the face. When they both saw it was her, they calmed down and breathed a sigh of relief. "_Bloody hell Portia!_ Don't sneak up on us like that!" Morri fumed.

"My apologies," she replied as she rubbed her chin, "I had to be sure that con was out of audio range. But more importantly what are _you_ doing here? How did you escape them?"

"We gave them the slip hours ago: we were trekking to a ranger's station to call for you guys" Max replied as she and Morri climbed out onto the top of the overhang where the spider-femme had perched herself.

"Where are the younglings? Where's Annabelle and the other humans?" Portia pressed them.

"Back up the mountain, in a cave about five miles back that way, right next to a waterfall" Morri replied: pointing in the direction them came from.

"And Firefly?"

"A cracked T-cog and some torn ligament cables, but otherwise okay" Morri replied, 'as far as I know' she thought offhand, half wondering and dreading if the cons found her secret hiding place "Roxy's keeping an eye on her: as is Chelsea and the twins with Jay-jay, Violet, Sparklestar and Anny"

"Okay, Buzzsaw went on ahead of me, I'll comm him and let him know what's up: you two however are coming with me. Prime and the others aren't far off and will be here soon," Portia replied as she transformed into her altmode and opened her cockpit doors, "Climb in".

Max climbed in and sat down in the pilot's seat: Morri followed suit, and was just about to lean in to sit down in the seat next to her, when something snapped around her ankle and yanked her out of the chopper. "MORRI!-" Max yelled in horror; Portia didn't realize what was going on, until her scanners caught Morri being dragged by something unseen into the undergrowth at high speed.

"-HOLD ON!" she called out: tossing Max out of her cockpit and transforming back into spider mode, then taking off after the brunette as she yelled and struggled to get free, all the while Max clung on tightly as she hanged from the crook of Portia's left arm. Training her scanners on the object around her ankle, Portia saw it was a cable-like whip of some kind; very long, and seemed to have a mind of its own as it dragged Morri towards the top of a wide gorge with a huge river raging below. Overhead, a black military attack helicopter was hovering steadily in place: Portia barely had time to realize it wasn't one of NEST's choppers before the craft's Gatling guns swung up and aimed directly at her.

"What the?!-

A hail of bullets struck the ground, but the spider-femme was much too fast for the pilot to keep up as he tried and failed to hit his target: pulling off some hard turns and spins, Portia tried to close the distance between her and Morri; taking aim, she fired her wrist-gun at the cable. The length of black metallic cord severed clean in half, but Morri's momentum kept her going forward, tumbling along the ground, and over the edge of the gorge...

"NO!" Max and Portia cried out simultaneously as the spider-femme rushed to the edge, but looking down into the thundering white rapids, her scanners couldn't pick Morri up anywhere.

"I don't see her! Do you?" Max panicked.

"No..." Portia admitted painfully, "I don't-"

But neither of them had time to search for her, as the chopper came back around to line up another shot, and on the opposite side of the gorge, there were three men in full black combat gear and full face masks, standing with bazooka-like weapons aimed at them. One fired his weapon prematurely, which Portia promptly ducked: the shot decimated the tree it hit, leaving only a black carbonized stump. Portia took off back up the slope, zigzagging as she tried to stagger her movement, so the chopper would have a hard time keeping up.

"Who were those guys?!" Max exclaimed

"I don't know, but my scanners didn't pick them up! We have to get back to warn the others!" Portia replied as she dashed through the trees, diapering amongst the dense undergrowth.

High up on a ridge that overlooked the entire valley and mountain side: another group of men in black military combat gear watched as the chopper chased after the Autobot and her human friend, but soon called off the chase as the pilot radioed in that he'd lost them.

"Well, it won't take her long to warn the Autobots; moving at that speed she should rendezvous with them soon enough..." Chumley stated as he lowered his binoculars, "Still, that brunette: the one in the uniform, she certainly seemed to have a good head on her shoulder's, to lead their escape out of the cave without being caught. Damn shame she went into the river"

"Quite sir" another gentleman replied in a British accent, "But it _is_ possible she could have survived"

"Yes, true enough: the rapids _do_ level out a little way down the stream" Chumley nodded as he thought about it, "I'll take a few of the lads down there to see what's what. If she is still alive, then that takes care of the bait for phase two"

"Very good sir" the other gentleman bowed his head respectively, "Anything else we may see to?"

"Well..." Chumley checked his watch, "It's already sun-up, the Autobots are within range, and we've got a schedule to keep. Time to speed things up a bit and get the action started; tell Richards and Watkins to prime the charges, we'll flush those bugs out of their hole. Then we can move onto phase three"

"Very good sir"

* * *

Meanwhile, back up the mountain:

Inside the cave, Jay-jay and Sparklestar were huddled together with the twins, while Chelsea dozed lightly on a large flat rock: tired, but not so tired she didn't keep her ears attuned to where Lizzy was throwing stones at the cave wall, some twenty or so meters away.

Being 'kept on the bench' was now a sorely tedious bummer, as far as Lizzy was concerned: after having a couple of hours to think about what went down earlier (as well as the last few weeks as a whole); her mind had began turning in the direction of bemusement, and being unable to understand why nothing worked out the way she'd hoped it would. She was so lost in her thoughts, that she almost hit Annabelle with a stone as she came up to her.

"Hey! Watch it!" the four year old barked

"Wha-," Lizzy huffed in exasperation, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I wasn't sneaking" Annabelle frowned, "I was just coming to talk to you" she added as she sat herself down next to the wayward teen; seeing that she was determined, Lizzy didn't bother shooing her off, and slumped against the rock with a huff.

"So? What'd you want to talk about?" Lizzy decided to humor her

"About why you're being so difficult" Annabelle stated, "Morri's just lookin' out for you: she ain't bustin' your chops cuz she's mean you know?"

"Yeah, so I've been told" Lizzy rolled her eyes, "Everybody likes her cuz she's good at this sort of thing. Big whoop"

"No! _Not_ a big whoop!-" Annabelle frowned as she smacked the teenager upside the head, "She ain't just good at _this_: she's kind, and generous, and she does all kinda things for all'a us. Things that _don't_ involve being a jerk to other people!"

"Aw come on! Not this again!" Lizzy threw up her hands, "-Okay, name me _one thing_ I've done to piss you guys off!"

"The day before yesterday you put a rotten egg in Bumblebee's exhaust pipe. A couple of days before that you let the air outta Hound's tires; a couple of days before that you tricked Red Alert into thinking garden gnomes were out to take over the world, and the day before that you-"

"Okay okay!" Lizzy waved off, "So I like to find fun wherever I can, that doesn't mean I actually _hurt_ anybody"

"Not like an 'owie' kinda hurt; but you _still_ _hurt_ their feelings..." Annabelle pointed out, "Look, I like pranks too, they can be real fun, but that don't mean I do them _all the time_. Pranks get old real quick if you do them too much, and when you do them too, _too_ much: people don't like it cuz it starts to become annoying, even spiteful...But _you_ still find them funny, and that ain't cool"

Thinking about it, Lizzy didn't want to admit it, but perhaps she had a point; looking back over the last two weeks, she thought it was a real bummer that people weren't laughing at her antics as much as she thought they would: and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why? Were people really getting sick and tired of her?

"Ugh! What would you know? You're just a lil' kid" the teenager waved off in a blase manner

"Yeah, _I am_ a lil' kid. But I'm a lil' kid who _knows_ when to have fun, _and_ when to take things seriously. Unlike _you_, you didn't even hang around to help find Violet when that bad man took her from your daddy..." Annabelle frowned disapprovingly.

Something about that made a streak of cold shoot down Lizzy's spine as those words hit her where she least expected it: "...I couldn't have known" she tried to excuse herself.

"No, but you _might_ have known sooner if you cared to stick around" the little honey-blond pointed out, "But instead, you just wanted to do what _you_ wanted to do...You don't care about anyone else but yourself..."

As Annabelle climbed off the rock and joined Chelsea at her side, Lizzy found herself feeling like she was stuck between a (proverbial) rock and a very hard place; for the first time in her life, something cold and empty had welled up in the place where her bold cockiness usually presided: and instead of fobbing it all off and sticking to her guns: for some unfathomable reason, something deep inside told her not to.

And the more she thought about, the more she began to wonder, just what she really knew...

* * *

At the same time, on the other side of the mountain:

"...It's been hours. Surely they must have reached the ranger's station by now?" Roxy thought aloud as she huddled closer to Firefly, trying to soak up as much of the scout's body-heat as she can.

Glancing up and seeing the distant look on Firefly's face-plates, Roxy huffed in boredom: "...What's up?"

"Hm?" Firefly blinked as her mind snapped back into the here and now.

"You've been staring at nothing for like, hours: what gives?"

"Hm, I was kinda thinking" Firefly sighed

"About what?"

Firefly paused apprehensively for a moment, before sheepishly replying: "About...how I think I might've gotten this wrong"

Bemused, Roxy huffed: "Okay, now you _really _don't make any sense"

"For the last two weeks I've been training my aft off: working my T-cog down to the frame and exhausting just about every shot I can fire: and all the while I thought it was _pointless_. I've fought loads'a different cons in loads'a different ways: I really didn't think retraining was necessary to rejoin the ranks"

"Well? I guess this whole little adventure kinda proves otherwise?" Roxy sighed offhand

"Well how was _I_ supposed to know Insecticons were still around? I thought they'd all gone extinct decades ago" Firefly huffed

"Heh, you sound just like her" Roxy smirked

"Who?"

"Lizzy: no wonder you two get on like a house on fire," Roxy smiled as she sat herself upright, "You're both too ballsy for your own good, and too _dumb_ to know when to quit"

As she thought about it, a look of something akin to regret seemed to come over Firefly's expression as she tentatively asked: "...Am I too, dumb?"

"What?" Roxy snapped her head up at her in surprise,

Firefly sulked a little: "I know I don't listen to my sister's much, but that's cuz I _always _thought I knew what to do...Ever since mom died we've been on our own, bouncing from unit to unit since we were sparklings; everything I know about fighting and being an Autobot I learnt from them, as well as a bunch of other bots we met along the way. At some point, (I don't remember when) I guess I made up my mind that I wasn't going to just dumbly follow orders: that I _wasn't _just a soldier; and that I could be _so much more_ than just me, you know? ...Being what I am now: the littlest and the youngest, really sucks when you got three older sisters who know how to do things better than you..." she confessed sheepishly

Staring at her in complete bemusement, Roxy pressed her hand to her forehead as her mind tried to absorb her words. She understood where Firefly was coming from, and had a good idea where this was probably going. As an elder sibling herself, she knew it was an obligation (of sorts) to try and part some sisterly wisdom on the matter; though what that wisdom should entail completely stumped her. Roxy wasn't sentimental in any shape or form, and she knew whatever she said, would only come out pessimistic in some way...

But then, something clicked in her mind's eye: there _was_ a difference between being a pessimist, and a realist. And so, throwing caution to the wind and just 'going with it' Roxy took a deep breath, and sighed: "...Okay, do you _really _want my advice?"

Firefly simply shrugged: what did she have to lose anyway?

"I'm _not _saying you're not _good_ at what you do: you've already got some pretty awesome moves as it is; but, given the fact of what's happened over the past several hours. Don't you think it might be a good idea to just-, you know? Shut up and listen to your sister's and drill-instructor for a change?"

"...Yeah, I was kinda thinking that" Firefly nodded sullenly

"Look, You and Lizzy: you're both enthusiastic, and both want to step up and prove you can do more; that's fine, it's cool. But not before you know_ how_. Usually I'm not one to let other people to tell me what I can and can't do: but even _I _had to learn the hard way that sometimes, there are other people who can do stuff _way_ better than you can," Roxy explained, trying to not come off as sarcastic or too hard: "...It's awkward for me cuz I'm the eldest sister in my family, I didn't have any other siblings that came before, so I never had any examples from which to learn how to be a good sister. And as time went by, I guess I kinda gave up on trying to 'be there' as a sister: cuz ultimately? _I just didn't get it, _and I didn't want the baggage that came with it..." she admitted sheepishly

"...I guess we've both been pretty bad sisters huh?" Firefly sighed

Roxy looked up at her, and shrugged, "Not bad, just-, being jerks. For me, I guess it comes from my inability to feel any sympathy or be sentimental about all the mushy stuff: Jeanie says I'm a pessimist, but honestly? I'm just being a realist. Life ain't fair, especially when it shit's you in the face: and I'd rather be aware of that possibility, than go through life always being taken for a sap"

"Well? ...I guess that's one way of looking at it?" Firefly shrugged: "And I guess if I had to be honest with myself? I don't think I ever really got the whole 'sister' thing either. I mean, don't get me wrong: I _love_ them and we've had some great times together; but sometimes, when things get hard or we argue about stuff, _I can't believe_ their my sisters, cuz we're just _so different_"

"That's pretty much _every_ sibling relationship right there" Roxy sighed

"Huh?" Firefly raised a skeptical optic-ridge, "But, I thought _all _sisters are supposed to get along together?"

"Oh _please,_" Roxy rolled her eyes, "Whoever sold you _that bullshit_ evidently didn't grow up with _any_ siblings...Look, when it comes to us humans, genetics are never straight forward: you could have _a hundred_ kids and no two would ever be alike. I mean, just look at me and my sister's: I can _really_ light some fire under some ass when I want to, but Allie? She can't even say boo to a goose: Rosy? She's not the brightest light in the closet (or has the most discreet fashion sense) but she sure as hell knows how to get a party started. Jeanie? She couldn't sass or bitch-off if her life depended on it, but she's a great people person, knows how to read the worst of 'em (ain't no surprise she wants to learn to be a shrink): Lizzy? She can be an annoying lil' shit at times, but no way has she _ever_ been caught red-handed: has an excuse for everything, and always has an alibi. And Violet? ...Eh? She's still young, hasn't really grown into herself just yet; although, I guess she's alright when she's not throwing a hissy-fit" she explained offhand, "...Look, you're _always_ gonna fight with your sisters at times, you're _never _completely gonna see eye-to-eye on everything (which is just as well cuz life would be _so brain-numbingly boring_ otherwise); but you _have _to make a compromise on something somewhere, otherwise you'd just drive each other _insane_ (and I should know!)"

Roxy paused to take a breath, before adding: "...But, when you agree on something, and it's cool with all of you. That's when being a sister counts for a lot. Being all different, is like a good salad: it ain't enough to just have all the green stuff, you gotta chuck on the croutons and the chicken and the Parmesan, and a lil' splash of oil and dressing to round it off and give it something extra. Just-...Don't go looking for any shit when there ain't any to begin with, okay?"

"Okay" Firefly nodded, "You know? I never figured you'd give good advice"

"I don't" Roxy stated flatly with a sarcastic frown, "I just figured I'd try the gentle approach for a change"

"And if I hadn't?"

"Then I'd have to kick you in the head"

Firefly couldn't help but smirk, "Okay"

"Seriously though? Don't go making a big deal of it when we get back to the base okay? If people start finding out that I'm going soft, I'll-"

"-It's cool" Firefly interrupted, "Don't worry..." She was about to say something else, when something caught her optic: "Hey, what's that?" she pointed to the roof of the cave. Looking up, Roxy saw it too. It was a red flashing light of some kind, emanating from the main cave area itself. Gently standing up, and picking Roxy up and holding her in one arm: Firefly quietly stepped around the cavern's bend, and cautiously peeked out into the cave. Seeing the Insecticon guard still hadn't moved, they cautiously stepped out a little further, and looked up, only to gawk in shock.

The entire roof of the cave was covered in wires, packed explosives and detonation charges: all leading to the main cave next door, right above the Insecticon's heads.

"Shit!-" Roxy hissed, trying to keep her voice as low as possible: "I'm no bomb expert, but that looks like enough explosives to take out several city blocks!"

"It_ is_ enough to take out several city blocks!" Firefly panicked as she scanned the devices, "There's _no way_ the cavern will be able to withstand a blast like that!"

Roxy's eyes only widened with panic as she spotted the timer, "That's not the worst of it! LOOK!-" she pointed to the device in question...

The charges had been primed, and were now counting down to detonation. There was only twenty seconds remaining on the timer...

Looking over at the Insecticon, they looked at one another and swallowed hard; "Ain't got no choice!" Firefly yelled as she threw all caution to the wind, and dashed for the cave entrance. Leaping over a few boulders, she missed the guard completely: turned hard to the left, and ran with everything she had while the wound in her side continued to throb. Behind her she could hear the guard and some of his other pack-mates stirring, as they began to realize what just happened. "SHIT! HERE THEY COME!" Roxy panicked as she looked over the femme's shoulder and spotted several of the giant bugs lumber out into the open: Firefly ran for another five hundred yards before she ducked into a smaller cave, and tried to get as far back as the cave would allow her. The Insecticon's were about to give chase, and spread out their wings, when suddenly-

KA-BRRROOOOOOOOM!

The entire bottom-half of the cliff-face disappeared in a mass of fire and smoke: the rocky slope above cracked and crumbled as a huge landslide thundered into the lake below, bringing with it all the trees for over two hundred yards up the slope, and staining the blue water pale brown. Firefly and Roxy held onto one another tightly as the whole cave shook violently: outside, rocks, boulders and trees were tossed about violently, while thick dust and smoke blackened the air; but the cave proved to be adequate shelter, as it faced the opposite direction of the blast...

In the other cave on the opposite side of the mountain, the ground shook lightly as small stones were dislodged from the roof of the cave: "What the hell was _that?_" Chelsea exclaimed worryingly.

"Sounded like a plasma bomb" Annabelle thought aloud

From where they stood atop the ridge of the adjacent valley, Optimus and the other Autobot's froze as they watched the giant plume of black smoke and dust rise up from the other side of the mountain.

"That's can only mean trouble" Ironhide frowned

And he was right, for within a minute, the air rang with the bellowing howls of nineteen, _very pissed off_ Insecticons; the giant monsters crashed out of the mountain at full speed, sending more rocks and boulders flying as they headed up into the air, and started circling around, as if trying to look for the culprit that destroyed their hiding place.

Down below the mountain, the vibrations were carried far and wide as they permeated through the air, and echoed around the valley walls like a gong. Though dissipating and growing more distant the further they traveled, they were enough to stir Morri back to life. Suddenly aware of the water in her throat, she quickly sat up and lurched forward as her coughing reflex expelled the fluid from her airway. After another minute or so of coughing and getting her breath back, she took a minute to gather herself, and realign her current train of thought.

Looking over at the river, she couldn't help but sigh: "...Blood hell; that was _way_ too close..."

But then she noticed just how far away she was from the river.

Sitting upright and looking around, she found herself at the edge of the forest, not far from where the gorge opened out and flattened into the rest of the valley. Between her and the water's edge, was a large expanse of flat mud: obviously left over from some earlier flooding...But what _really_ grabbed her notice, was the fact she was well over ten meters from the river; if she had been washed up there, she would still have been half-way in the water, but since this particular river was not part of an estuarine tributary (and therefore non-tidal) there was no way she could have gotten all the way up the bank, unless-

That's when she looked down at her feet, and saw the drag marks in the mud.

Someone, or _something_ had dragged her out of the water, and left her at the tree-line; something, that had human-like footprints over twenty three inches long. And judging from how deep they had sank into the mud; it had to be over four to eight hundred pounds. Staring at the footprints in a mix of confusion and alarm, Morri suddenly remembered the creature she and Max saw on the logging road, and realized it had the exact same feet.

"Whoa..." She breathed; after a few seconds, she pushed the incredible realization to one side, and looked down at her CTG; she smiled as the comm signal reader flashed green, indicating the Autobot's were not that far away now. She was about to activate the homing beacon, when she suddenly spotted a little bright red dot on her arm. A laser dot: the kind that only a precision sniper rifle utilizes in its sights.

As six more appeared on her arms and hands: Morri was about to bolt for the trees, when the sound of a handgun cocking made her froze, and relax as she felt the barrel pressed lightly to the back of her head.

"I have to say: that was quite a tumble you took my dear" a smooth male voice said: his well-spoken British accent immediately got her attention: "And quite a feat of stamina to have survived the rapids in one piece and still come out breathing" he added in a charming manner as he pulled the gun away. From out of the trees, ten armed soldiers dressed in full black combat gear and full face masks stepped out and surrounded her, pointing their semi-automatic weapons at her head and chest.

"Oh come now lads, she's not armed" the gentleman pointed out, "Though I have to say, you're quite a slippery one aren't you? Managing to escape those giant brutes without being caught? Quite a ballsy but impressive move" he smiled.

As Morri picked herself up and turned to face him: she was surprised, he wasn't quite what she had expected. The gentlemen in question was a few several inches taller than her: not well built, but still, he looked like he could put up a good fight; his thick silver wavy hair was combed back into a formal short straight cut, with a small curly handlebar mustache and thick sideburns. Despite looking to be somewhere between his fifties and sixties, he had distinguished look about him: with his black hunter jacket, dark green British military issue trousers and lightweight patrol boots, with a red paisley silk scarf tucked into the top of his dark-grey shirt; he looked like he had just come fresh from a fox hunt (or some other 'well-to-do' event that only the upper class could afford to attend), but something about him also made her think: ex-military.

"Who are you?" Morri frowned at him in confusion

"Oh, do forgive me, _where are_ my manners?" the gentleman smiled as he put his revolver back in its holster: "The name's Barkiss: but you my dear can call me 'Chumley': everyone else does"

Overhead, the sounds of heavy gunfire, transformation sequences, and howling and roaring echoed over the trees, growing louder with intensity.

"What's that?" Morri thought aloud in alarm

"That, my dear would be the sound of your friends engaging those beasts head-on: while _you_ on the other hand, will be joining me for breakfast" he smiled.

* * *

**Yep, kinda turned into one of those self-reflection chapters yet again :\ Still, growth is good for the soul, and humility can go a long way :)  
**

**So, things kinda really heat up from here: it shouldn't get too gnarly, but it'll be tense in places :)**

**Oh, and BTW: 5 points and a cookie goes to whoever can guess that cyrptid! 8D**

**On a smaller note: I'll be taking some time to draft the next line for stories over X-mas and new years, so the updates might a little further and fewer between okay?**

**Much love as always, and please do R&R before leaving! **


	7. Chpt 6: Baited, & Trapped

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

* * *

HUNTERS MOON

Chapter 6: Baited, and Trapped

Sometime later:

"Well this has certainly turned into a fine mess!" Majestrix growled as she narrowly missed a huge piece of shrapnel that went flying over her head.

"Less talk, more fighting!" Prime barked back as he covered her attack on one of the Insecticons.

As quickly as it had began, so the battle had grown with intensity as the Insecticons spared the Autobots no quarter. Despite their dumb anger-fueled rage and their disorganized attack patterns, the beasts were hard to contend with: their sheer size and thick armor were hard to overcome, as were their ravenous appetites as they tried to pick off the smaller warriors.

The battle looked set to run in the con's favor, until a few minutes later when Grimlock ordered the Dinobots to attack. From there on it was brute force vs brute force: the ground and forest trembled with the intensity of an earthquake as the two juggernaut-type teams slammed into each other; tooth and claw vs tooth and mandible, and as the battle raged on, neither side could seem to get the better of the other. And so it was left to Prime, Majestrix and the rest of the Autobot's to try and even the odds, as the bots all weaved in and out of the fray, trying to pick and shoot at the chinks in the cons armor.

As one con swooped in low for an attack, Prime and Majestrix both ran for the cover of a nearby vertical ridge: the beast's huge mandible's just barely missed their helms as it flew right overhead, clipping a huge pine clean in half as it tried to regain altitude: Majestrix aimed her wrist cannon, and grounded the beast with one well-placed shot to the base of the wings, leaving it to the mercy of Grimlock's SIC, who proceeded to tear into the creature like a pitbull on a rat.

"Whoever set those explosions off _clearly_ wanted to keep us busy" Majestrix said offhand

"But the question is: who?" Prime glanced at her with a skeptical frown.

**: Prime? Come in Prime! This is Buzzsaw! I found the younglings! : **Buzzsaw suddenly chirped over the comm.

**: This is Portia; I have Max with me, over:** Portia said

**: Acknowledged. This is Prime, who is nearer to Buzzsaw's position? : **Prime barked over the open comm frequency

**: That would be us Prime**: Trailbreaker replied **: But we're still quite a way off yet, it's going to take us time to get up there:**

**: Then are there any flyers who can get there faster? : **Prime replied

**: I'll be right there Prime, just give me five minutes to shake this con off my tail-fins! :** Skywarp replied frantically **: I'll cover him! :** Lazerbeak added.

**: Copy that:** Prime replied as the comm went silent.

"HEY! We got a problem!" Cliffjumper called out as he pointed to the sky; looking up, both Optimus and Majestrix were dismayed to see four of the Insecticons breaking away from the fight and taking off in the direction of the mountain.

"Great. That's _all _we need" Majestrix fumed, "Crystal', any luck on your daughter's end?" she turned to Crystalwing.

"Hang on, Shiningstar's coming in now: I'll put her on loud-speaker..." the femme replied as she switched on her external loud-speakers, **: Mother? Mother! **_**Please come in!**_** We got a serious problem! :** Shiningstar's frantic voice made her mother still with worry **: What's wrong?! : **She replied back.

**: It's Shadowstar, I lost her! :**

**: You lost her? :**

**: She went on ahead of me and now she's out of my telepathic range, and I can't pick up her scent anywhere! :**

Crystalwing frowned in confusion** : What do you mean you can't pick up her scent? :**

**: I mean, I don't know where she went. She's completely diapered! : **

This didn't make sense, but Majestrix had the cons to worry about, and as she watched the four wayward Insecticon's fly out of range: she opened up her comm frequency **: Longrange, Coldbore, Velocity, Blackshot. There are four Insecticons breaking away from the main fight: power up your stealth-protocols and try to snipe them:** she ordered...

But there was only static on the other end of the line.

**: Blackshot?, Longrange?, Coldbore?, Velocity? Can any of you hear me? : **She tried to reach out for them, but again, there was no reply.

'_Where the frag_ have they all gone?' she mentally growled with frustration as she looked back over the battle, checking to see who was still fighting and who was taking cover...

It was then she noticed, her eldest daughter Eclipse was absent too.

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

**: You're sure this is the place? :** Deathshot asked Portia over her privet comm

**: It was **_**defiantly there**_**, the attack chopper was waiting for me as they dragged Morri into that area:** the spider femme replied.

**: Alright, thanks Portia:** the sniper replied as he and Thundercracker transformed, and landed on the forest floor: right across from the edge of the gorge. Opening his cockpit, Deathshot set Ashley and his father down on the ground, while Ravage jumped down and stretched his hind-quarters out.

"This is where she was attacked?" Thundercracker raised a skeptical optic ridge as he looked around; sure enough, there was evidence of an attack having taken place here recently. Bullet holes littered the ground and tree trunks, the leaf litter had been blown about, as if a miniature tornado (or a helicopter's downdraft) had been through here; and several meters away, Ravage padded over to sniff a black carbonized tree stump, and part of the tree in question. "...Whoever it was, they sure didn't stick around long" he added

"This is weird..." Ashley frowned as he sniffed the air, "I can smell plasma discharge, but I can't smell any energon residue"

"Portia said they were human, but I'm not smelling otherwise" Ravage added sceptically.

"This doesn't make sense," Deathshot said as he scanned the ground with his left optic, "There are footprints on the ground _everywhere_ on the opposite side of the gorge: but no bio-signatures or weapons discharge of any kind"

"How'd they managed to cover their tracks like that? Because there sure as frag ain't any ionized aluminum particles anywhere" Thundercracker added as he too scanned their surroundings.

"Portia said Morri fell into the river, "John changed the subject, "If she survived, she'll have washed up downstream; come on!" The Royal Marine left no opening for debate as he took off into the dense undergrowth, following the gorge as it steadily sloped down towards the bottom of the valley: the two flyers followed from the air as they hovered over the trees, while Ravage and Ashley brought up the rear.

A couple of kilometers downstream, the gorge opened out into a flat wide expanse, where the riverbanks pushed the trees back for over four hundred yards apart. As they scanned the area, both flyers soon spotted a series of odd-looking tracks in the mud, and after carrying the two humans and drone across to the opposite side, they soon got a good look at the tracks in question.

"It's her, she was _definitely _here" Ravage stated as he scanned the tracks.

"You're sure?!" John demanded

"See those hand prints there?" the panther drone motioned to a set of hand prints, "Those are her palm and finger prints, and from the lack of any blood, I'd say she escaped the rapids in one piece"

"But who took her?" John pointed to the other footprints, "There must have been about eleven of them, and from the way they circled around her, I'd say they were armed"

"But again, no bio-signatures or weapons discharge; whoever these humans are, they went to great lengths to cover their scent" Ravage replied, "But the more pressing question is, what do they want with her?"

"HN!" Ashley hissed as he gripped his side in pain

"-Are you okay?" his father laid a hand on his shoulder

"Ugh, just a cramp, don't worry I'm fine..." he waved off: though the queasy look on his face told the others that wasn't entirely true.

* * *

A while later, elsewhere:

"Are you comfortable?" Chumley asked politely.

"Just take the blindfold off already" Morri huffed in annoyance, it was bad enough her legs and torso were tied to a chair, but having a blindfold on had been somewhat disorientating. Being marched blind up and over a small mountain, and then shuffled into (what had sounded like) a small encampment _wasn't _her idea of escape (never mind finding help). And as she half worried for the fate of Portia and Max, the question of what this Chumley fellow wanted with _her_ was now starting to take center stage in her mind.

Almost immediately, she felt a large pair of hands untie the knot at the back of her head, and as the blindfold slipped off, she saw...A full English breakfast laid out before her, complete with toast and various jams and spreads; and tea served in a posh Royal Winsor cup and saucer. The table was covered in a white linen tablecloth: with a small silver candelabra lending a gentle glow of candlelight.

Half expecting a small collection of torture devices, or something of an inhumane nature: _this_ was the very last thing Morri had been expecting.

Looking up and across the table, she saw Chumley typing away on a laptop, looking quite nonchalant and laid back as he went about his work. Looking around, she saw she was inside a very large tent, filled with computers and other various types of equipment; some of it she recognized as satellite jamming hardware, while the rest she couldn't quite place. Looking down at her CTG, she was surprised to find a small electronic bracelet fitted over the wrist: whatever it was, it was jamming the device's tracker system; so calling the Autobots or even getting a GPS hit would be impossible.

But as she heard Chumley take a sip of his tea, her attention was immediately drawn back to him as he closed his laptop, and sat up straight as he addressed her: "It's not very often I have guests over, so having a fellow 'limey' is _real treat_" he smiled with that charismatic charm of his. But Morri wasn't taken in by it as she stared at him like a disgruntled cat. "Charmed," she drolled as she eyed the breakfast suspiciously: "And how much poison did you lace _this_ with?"

Right away, Chumley took his fork, leaned across the table and took a rasher off her plate, taking a bite as he leaned back into his chair: "Unfortunately, I left my best brand of cyanide at home..." he joked, "No, Poison's not my thing: too cheap and too cowardly" he added before turning somewhat serious: "Now, you strike me as a bright young lady. If I wanted you dead, don't you think it would've been a tad simpler to simply shoot you in the head as you were climbing into your friend's cockpit?" he asked

Morri had to admit, he had a point; but had he _really_ been that close to Portia?

"And besides, you haven't had anything to eat since yesterday, and you just walked over five miles down a mountain with no provisions: you must be absolutely _famished_, so please, _do _help yourself..." he gestured to the food.

As the heavenly scent of all the various fried foods wafted about, her growling stomach suddenly reminded her of the fatigue she'd been pushing aside for the last several hours. As Morri studied his face for any sign of deceit, she picked up the tea, smelt it: and upon smelling nothing that would indicate any poison, took a small cautious sip.

"See? No poison" Chumley smiled

"It's okay I guess" she shrugged: though secretly, it was _wonderful_ to taste proper English tea again.

"Okay? It's from _Fortnum and Masons_! Finest Earl Grey this side of the Atlantic: none of that cheap drain cleaner they call 'coffee'" he scoffed:

"How about we cut the chit-chat, and just skip to the obvious questions?" Morri drolled as she took another sip.

"Ah yes, the reason why you're here" Chumley nodded, "Well? Basically the long and short of it is, I needed bait"

Morri put her tea down: "Bait? For what?"

"To bring one of your Autobot friends in my dear" he smiled, "No doubt you're guardian will be the first to come running to your rescue: but unfortunately, I only need _one _Autobot in particular"

She stared at him utter disbelief: "...You _do _realize you're in for one hell of a fight if the Autobots come along: there's _no way in hell_ they'll let you off lightly for this" she frowned

"Which is why it's prudent to keep you alive: I only want them riled, _not_ vengeful. A human hostage is bound to strike a soft spot, and from what I've been told, you're certainly good at that my dear" he replied with a knowing look in his eyes.

Morri froze: "...What do you mean _'from what I've been told'?_ ..." she pressed him, wondering what he meant by that.

"Excuse me sir?" Another gentleman poked his head in through the entrance of the tent: "The lads are ready to proceed with the next phase: "Very good, tell them I'll be right out" Chumley replied.

He slowly got up from the table, and as he approached Morri, something akin to an apologetic look seemed to come over him as he told her: "...As you might have already guessed, my 'particular career choice', is not exactly one I can brag about to most _law-abiding_ folk. I specialize in many things, but above all: getting _whatever _the highest paying customer wants the most; and my current 'clients' have gone to great lengths to ensure that I deliver what _they _want. And I'm sorry to say, what _they_ want is your friend: Optimus Prime..."

Morri stared at him in a mix of disbelief and shock: her mind spun for a moment as she tried to process what he just said. But her train of thought slowed a bit as a sudden rise in activity outside seemed to grab Chumley's attention.

"...You better eat up my dear: we've got a _long day_ ahead of us" he patted her on the shoulder, and left the tent. Turning around as best she could, Morri couldn't see Chumley anymore, but as the tent's entrance flapped about in the wind, she noticed several large black crates sitting on the ground, all staked one on top of the other, with the words: DANGER: HIGH EXPLOSIVES, painted on the side in big red letters.

But what alarmed her even more, was the sound of the mysterious weapons being charged and primed.

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

**: Not to sound pushy, but how far to the cave? :** Bluebird asked worryingly,

**: About another ten miles, then a two mile climb up the side of the mountain:** Trailbreaker replied as he led the way along the old logging road.

**: Stop panicking, we'll get there okay? :** Veebee added **: And I'm sure Firefly will be okay; in all likelihood she's probably stuck in a tree somewhere-:**

Tangostar was about to throw in her opinion, when quite suddenly, and without warning: a large bright green object came tumbling down the steep slope, crashed onto the road and ran right up against a tree before coming to an abrupt stop. As Trailbreaker hit his breaks, the other three sisters didn't have enough space to stop as they crashed into his rear bumper: fortunately there no serious damage done as the four of them transformed and inspected one another over, but even so, it was quite a shock.

Turning their attention to the object in question (which looked like a mish-mash of metal and half-destroyed vegetation), they approached closer with their weapons at the ready; but when they noticed how familiar the distinct humanoid robotic form looked, the thing suddenly let out a disgruntled groan: "Geez, nice of you not to crash into me, I only went head-first down a _fraggin' mountain!_" And right away, they all breathed a sigh of relief...

"Fly'!-" Bluebird exclaimed with delight as she dropped to her knees to hug her little sister tightly: but Firefly only pushed her back: "Watch it! You nearly squished Roxy!" she retorted. Curled up in the crook of one arm, a very dazed Roxy flopped over to one side as she tried to scramble out of the femme's grip: "Oh God!-" She moaned, "Get me off this ride!", placing her down on the ground, Firefly grimaced as the human staggered to her feet, only to throw up behind a tree.

"Where-, how in Primus's name did you escape the Insecticons?" Trailbreaker exclaimed

"Someone took care of that for us" Firefly huffed as she staggered to her feet, and tried to pick the torn branches and twigs out from in between her joints and armor plates: "The caves they were hiding in were stuffed to the vents with bombs: _lot's of em'!_"

"-Damn fuckin' bombs almost blew _us_ off the mountain too!" Roxy panted as she leaned against the tree, waiting for her equilibrium to level out: "We managed to get inside a cave and avoided the main blast. But no sooner had the explosion subsided, those oversized bugs come blasting outta the rock screamin' and hollarin' their heads off! I'm tellin' ya: _they were pissed!_"

"After we dug ourselves out of the landslide, we found another way down the side of the mountain; but somewhere back up there I tripped and fell, and well? Here's where we landed" Firefly shrugged

"-Oh my Primus!" Veebee exclaimed as she spotted the wound in her sister's side, "You're hurt!"

"Huh? Oh _that_: the pain died down ages ago after Morri put a patch-weld on it: I can't transform but I'm still good to go" Firefly smiled

The other three sisters and Trailbreaker all looked at one another in mild alarm: They were half expecting Firefly to be fired up and ready to go on the war path; but instead, she was actually being...level headed?

"...Are you _sure_ you're okay?" Tangostar asked cautiously

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" Firefly looked at her weirdly

"She's good, trust me" Roxy sighed as she dusted herself off and stood up straight: "All I wanna know, is where I can get a _big fucking gun_, so I can blast one of those mother fucking_ freaks _right outta the-

Roxy froze, and gawked in shock: worried, the bots all scanned her, alarmed that it might be internal malfunction of some kind.

**: This isn't good, her adrenaline levels just spiked! :** Bluebird commed

**: Like **_**duh!**_** Her adrenaline's been up since the explosion! She probably just-**

Roxy pointed to something behind Trailbreaker, and as the others turned to see what it was: they were all rather taken aback by what was standing in the road some thirty feet away. It was a strange creature: about nine feet tall, covered in dark brown hair all over its body, and looked vaguely similar to a human.

"What?-" Veebee gawked, but before she could say anything else, the creature extended its long arm, and pointed to the sky. Looking up at where it was pointing, the bots all froze in fear as they spotted four Insecticons flying overhead. As they watched the group break up and head off in various directions, they began to panic as one start heading right towards them; quickly, Roxy glanced back at the creature, but was it was gone.

"RUN!-" Trailbreaker barked. Snatching Roxy up and holding her in the crook of her arm, Veebee and the other bots all ran towards a tunnel carved out of the rock.

As the Insecticon made a beeline for them, they just barely made it inside as the great behemoth slammed head-first into the tunnel entrance, causing the structure to cave in right on top of it. Fortunately, the bots managed to get far enough into the tunnel for the beast not to reach them, and as it tried to dig out the thick granite rock, its wide mandibles kept getting stuck. Turning on their headlights to see a little better in the gloom, Veebee turned her high-beams on full in an attempt to dazzle the creature's optics, while Bluebird, Trailbreaker, Firefly and Tangostar tried to shoot at its face. Their laser guns were more of an annoyance than an actual threat, and as they aimed at its optics, the creature backed out and shook its head to try and stave off the sting of the blasts. But it didn't go away, and started trying to dig them out again: only this time, from the side of the collapsed tunnel entrance, where the laser gun's line of fire was obscured by the rock.

"Are we gonna be safe in here?" Roxy panted, "How far does the tunnel go back?"

Looking back over his shoulder, Trailbreaker saw that the tunnel curved around a corner, but he couldn't see any daylight: "Hard to say, it could go right through the mountain for all we know?" he replied

"As long as _that thing_ isn't able to get at us, I'm okay for a lil' spelunking" Firefly replied

Turning around and running further down the tunnel, the bots all listened as the beast continued to smash the rock: wondering if it might be able to actually get through. As long as it didn't figure out that using its plasma cannons would be a much more effective means of blasting the tunnel wider, they would be okay...

For now...

* * *

At the same time, back up the mountain:

"Look! There they are!" Lazerbeak swooped down as he spotted his brother flapping his wings to get their attention.

"Finally!" Skywarp huffed as he pointed his engines downwards and came into land by the cave, where Chelsea and the other youngsters had all been waiting.

"About time you showed up!" Annabelle frowned up at the seeker "What took you so long?!"

"Gimme a break youngling, I've been chased by bugs all over these mountains! ...Okay, everyone inside, and try not to fidget" the seeker huffed as he opened up his cockpit, and placed each of the youngsters inside: he was about to reach for Chelsea, when he hesitated: "...Uh oh, I'm full" he blurted out.

"_Full?_ What do you mean you're full?!" Chelsea panicked

"I mean, if I try to squeeze _you_ in, it's going to make safe flying very difficult, and teleporting even more dangerous!" the seeker frowned, "...Lazerbeak? Would you mind?"

"What do I look like? A rental?" the eagle squawked incredulously as he ruffled his metallic feathers; Skywarp shot him a deadpan frown, to which the drone let out a long frustrated sigh, "...Fine! Get on!" he replied as he hopped over to Chelsea, and crouched down low enough for her to climb on. But no sooner had the teenager straddled the eagle's back, with her legs hanging down on either side of his neck. Everyone in Skywarp's cockpit screamed as they pointed to something in the air-

"What the- FRAG!-"

Skywarp slammed his cockpit shut and blasted back into the sky as an Insecticon slammed into the cave: Lazerbeak took off with Chelsea screaming and hanging on for dear life while his brother swooped up and around to cover him. As the Insecticon pulled itself out of the crumbling cliff-face, and reversed back out into the air, the flyer and two drones wasted no time in putting as much distance between them and the con as possible. The beast fired its plasma cannons, but missed as the flyers quickly gained altitude.

"I need to get the younglings back to base!" Skywarp called over to Chelsea, "I'll come back for you, I promise!"And with that, white sparks started flashing around Skywarp's wings as he activated his teleport mode, and in a thundering flash of brilliant white light, he was gone.

"He's gone?!" Chelsea gawked as she tried to hold on, "What happened?!"

"He teleported back to NEST, don't worry, he'll be back, but right now we got more important things to worry about!" Lazerbeak squawked as the Insecticon was quickly gaining on them.

"SHIT!" How'd we stop him?!" Chelsea panicked

"We can't: best tactic we have is to drop to a lower altitude and stagger our moves, give him the fly-around. He's so heavy he can only fly in a straight line at this speed" the black and red eagle replied

"Okay!" Chelsea nodded

"You better return to the battle brother, I sense things are getting rather heated back there" Lazerbeak looked over at Buzzsaw.

"Affirmative: take care brother!" the yellow and black eagle called out as he banked away, while Lazerbeak pointed down and headed back towards the mountain. The Insecticon had trouble keeping up as the smaller drone weaved his way over the air-currents.

And quite unexpectedly, he could sense Chelsea's fear steadily growing into excitement, as the sensation of speed began to elicit a little buzz of thrill in the front of her mind. "You know? Despite the circumstances, I think I could get used to flying like this!" Chelsea smiled as she leaned down, and positioned herself just right so she created as little drag as possible.

"Well that's nice to know..." he drolled as he sped up, and lead the Insecticon on a wild drone chase.

* * *

A little while later, back down in the valley:

The battle was now reaching fever-pitch, as Grimlock and the other larger Dinobots were slugging it out with the 'Alpha' Insecticon, Hardshell, and a couple of his more able warriors.

Deathshot, Thundercracker, John, Ashley and Ravage had followed the river for a while now; as the sounds of the battle echoed over the rise of the valley: it was grim to listen to, especially when the sound of an Autobot crying out rang the loudest. But their attention was soon drawn to the sound of two stray Insecticons coming right at them.

"RUN!" Deathshot yelled as he and Thundercracker flew up in the air, leading one of the cons away. Ravage let John leap onto his back and ride him while Ashley stayed close to his side as they bolted: they just cleared about fifteen meters as the other con slammed head-first into the riverbank. Stone, mud and water were tossed about as the bug staggered to its feet, and started lumbering after them.

"What now?" John frowned as he hung on tightly.

"Now, we run, and try to find adequate cover. There's no way we can take that thing by ourselves, and _those two_ will be busy for a while," Ravage looked up at the two flyers, who by now were flying circles around the other Insecticon.

Running parallel to the sloping ground, both the drone and the hybrid had very little trouble staying ahead of the bug as it tried to pursue them through the forest. The dense trees slowed it down dramatically, but as the slope kept growing steeper and steeper, it soon became very difficult to run at speed on a near-vertical incline, and Ravage was soon forced to head down towards the river, which had now expanded into a small lake. As he led the way along the shoreline, he spotted a huge dark shadow just beneath the water's surface...

A shadow that was moving at speed towards the shore...

He barely had time to scan the object as it burst out of the water right behind him, and slammed into the Insecticon with one huge CLANG!

Skidding to a halt, stopping some distance away: Ravage, John and Ashley watched in alarm as a giant robotic Spineosaurus tossed the bug onto its back, and decapitated it with one big almighty SSSCRUNCH! Courtesy, of its _enormous_ crocodile-like jaws. At this point both Ashley and his father didn't know which to be more alarmed by: the fact that the Dinobot had decapitated the con in one bite, or the fact that it could easily crush _them_ with said jaws. But they didn't have time to decide as the Dinobot spotted Ravage, and started stomping over towards him.

"Rrrr! Decepticons!" He growled in a gruff gravelly voice as he started to run,

"RUN!" John barked; but as Ravage and Ashley covered about ten meters, the second Insecticon dropped dead in the lake, followed by Deathshot and Thundercracker, who landed with their arms folded: purposely blocking the Dinobot's path. The beast skidded to a halt, and eyed the two flyers with a mix of disdain and sly glee. "Heh, I was wondering when you'd finally throw you're lot in with the cons, _Deathshot_" he snarled.

"Actually, it's the other way round" Thundercracker stated, "_I'm the one_ who upped and left for the Autobots"

"Well we all know _that's_ a lie" the Dinobot scoffed as he began slowly circling him, "Still, it saves us the trouble of hunting you down"

"Back off Hammerjaw!" Deathshot scowled: "He's with me, as are they" he glanced down at the drone, hybrid and human.

"Hm, mere entrees, it's _him _I want to kill" Hammerjaw growled as he moved in closer.

"You'll do no such thing!" Deathshot stated angrily as he unfolded his sniper rifle and aimed at the Dinobot's flank, "-Now back off!"

"Heh, yeah right-" the beast smirked mockingly, but as he took another step forward, Deathshot fired his weapon at point-blank range: the shot cracked through the air like thunder, deafening everyone. It hit the Spineosaurus with such force that it knocked him right over onto his back; and as the sniper folded his weapon away, the Dinobot staggered back up onto his feet, and shook off the water from his armor: which unsurprisingly, hadn't even been dented by the shot.

"...Nice to know you're aim is still good" Hammerjaw frowned, "But seriously, you've gone _soft_. Letting this _cannon-fodder_ and his pet walk all over you like this"

"Pet?" Thundercracker raised an optic ridge

"The freak here" the Dinobot glanced down at Ashley, who took a few nervous steps backwards, "I don't know what kind of drone _that _supposed to be, but I know a con when I smell one"

"He's _not_ a Decepticon!" John growled angrily, jumping off Ravage's back and rushing to stand between his son and the beast, "And he sure as hell ain't no drone!"

"Hmm, you might want to tell the meat-sack to keep its mouth shut: and to remember its place" Hammerjaw glanced back at Deathshot.

"Look, we don't have time for this" John added, "Either piss off or go back to the fight!" he barked.

Hammerjaw swung his head round to try and snatch the human up in his teeth, but in the blink of an eye Deathshot unleashed a volley of laser-shots from both wrist-guns, shooting the Dinobot right in the back of his throat, which forced him to back off. Taking advantage of his vulnerability, the sniper then punched the beast with a sharp upper-cut to the left side of his face: promptly flooring the beast on his aft again.

"Heh, whatever; I'm hungry anyway..." he smirked as he got back up on his feet and stomped back over to the headless Insecticon, and proceeded to tear the creature apart to get at the energon-rich circuits beneath the armor: "...Catch you idiots later, I should be ready for dessert by then"

"What was _that_ all about?" Ashley grimaced nervously.

"Nothing, it's just posturing" Deathshot frowned, "Come on, we still have to find Morri" he stated as he took off, with Thundercracker followed suit. John remounted Ravage, and together with his son they took off back into the forest; hoping not too run into any more of Hammerjaw's team-mates.

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

"This is getting rather serious now Trailbreaker!" Tangostar panicked as the Insecticon edged ever nearer to the five fearful Autobots;

"I know that!" Trailbreaker stated in nervous frustration

The tunnel had turned out to be a dead end, as it only went back into the mountain for about eight hundred yards, trapping the bots as the Insecticon managed to dig out another several yards of rock from the tunnel.

"What'd you think? Flash-bang attack? Or plasma volley?" Bluebird threw in

"At this point, I'm not sure what difference it will make!" Trailbreaker replied as he watched the beast shovel out another load of broken blocks.

But then, quiet unexpectedly: the Insecticon let out a loud screech as something dragged it back and away from the mouth of the tunnel; the sound of metal pounding on metal echoed down the tunnel as the distinct sound of a fight lasted from a few minutes, before silence fell. Glancing at one another in confusion, the bots and their one human friend took a few anxious steps forward, before a big black mech with bright yellow optics made them jump back.

"Greetings and salutations, fellow warriors! For I, Leviathan and my compatriot Carnage, have thwarted thy enemy in one fell blow!" he smiled in a deep booming voice.

Realizing it was one of the Dinobots, Trailbreaker cautiously approached the entrance with the femme's right at his back: and upon peering outside, saw the now-dead Insecticon lying to one side with a gaping hole in its flank. With a smaller Dinobot happily tucking into said wound, ripping out and devouring the glowing blue circuitry and ligament cables inside.

"Come! Let us savor the sweet taste of victory!" the giant Dinobot jovially stated, as he ripped off one of the con's legs and offered it to the bots.

The three femmes suddenly felt the urge to purge their tanks, while Trailbreaker tried to hide his disgust: "Uh? Thank you, but we all refueled before we left" he politely stated.

"Insecticon is fat with energon," the smaller Dinobot stated in a deep gruff gravelly voice: "lot's a' energon to go around" he smiled

"Uh, that's great to know, but we _really_ need to get back down the mountain: the hostages are all safely secured and we need to get Roxy here to a medic" Veebee gestured to the half-anxious human huddled in the crook of her arm.

"Hm? So _these_ are the organics that are the blight of Prime's worry?" Leviathan eyed the human sceptically for a second, before waving it off: "Not to fear, go on ahead: we shall rejoin the fray of battle, as soon as thy hunger has been sated" he stated, and then rejoined his smaller companion, ripping out a huge chunk of ligament cable from the dead beast, and cramming it into his wide maw.

Deciding not to hang around, the bots wasted no time in transforming and driving off, with Firefly jogging along at the rear.

"Okay: what the fuck?" Roxy facepalmed

"Don't ask," Trailbreaker ground through Veebee's loud-speakers, "Just-, _don't ask_"

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

"This is getting ridiculous!" Majestrix barked angrily as she blasted an Insecticon at point-blank range in the face: "You're turning this into a _stalemate!_"

"That's the whole point!" Grimlock bellowed proudly as he smacked another of the cons away with his tail, "Drag it out as long as possible and enjoy the carnage at its sweetest. Or is that too 'underhanded' for you?" he mockingly smiled at her.

She was about to rip him a new one when Prime interjected: "At this rate we will fall before the day is out" Optimus frowned, "Grimlock, we _have_ to fall back and regroup!"

"_You_ flee with your tail between your legs if you want to, we got a job to do!" the Dinobot leader growled as he lay into another of the creatures, snapping off its right-side mandible with one bite.

Before the Prime and Prima could argue back, the Insecticons regrouped for another charge: but just as they got above three hundred feet, a giant blast-wave of fire rippled across the sky, knocking the cons out of the air and slamming them into the side of the mountain; the vibrations of which, caused a massive landslide to bury the beasts under thousands of tons of rock and earth.

Looking up from the source of the blast, everyone spotted Jetfire descending with his battle-axe blazing red hot: "That won't hold them for long! Fall back while you can!" he bellowed down. Deciding not to waste time arguing, Prime gave the order to fall back: and without hesitation the Autobots all pulled away, following Optimus and Majestrix as they sped through the valley for over nine miles, until they reached a relatively flat area of forest that met the vertical base of another mountain. The cliff-face was peppered with large caves: adequate cover from the beast, and a better place to make a stand.

"We need to call in reinforcements" Majestrix stated, "Contact Lennox and tell him to send in an air strike: nothing short of a small-scale tactical nuke is likely to stop those beasts"

"If we there were no inhabitants for over twenty thousand miles in any direction, I _might_ consider it. But that's _not_ an option" Prime stated as he helped Ironhide carry an injured Bluestreak into one of the caves.

"Well anything less is hardly likely to dent them: even the sabot rounds on a Thunderbolt II will hardly burn them" Majestrix shot back: "_It's a miracle_ we've lost no one...yet"

"Then let _us_ take care of them: what's why we crashed-landed on this Primus-forsaken rock anyway" Grimlock stated in annoyance.

"If I knew you weren't going to run off and cause more trouble elsewhere when this is over, I'd be glad too" Majestrix growled back at him, "But _we both know_ that's not going to happen...and anyway, what happened to Hammerjaw, Leviathan and Carnage?"

"They went off to take care of the runaway cons" Grimlock shot back, "Unlike you're _weakling_ Autobots, who can't even take on a _single_ Insecticon, let alone a whole pack of them"

"ENOUGH!" Prime snapped angrily, making everyone bare Majestrix and the Dinobots jump: "... This is _not _helping! Morri is _still _unaccounted for, and fighting like this is not going to help!"

Taking a deep breath and calming herself down, Majestrix bowed her head respectfully: "Forgive me brother: you are right, this isn't helping at all" she admitted

"What's this?" Grimlock blinked in surprise, "The all-mighty Majestrix Prima heeling to her little brother? Since when did _he_ suddenly become worthy of _your_ mercy?" the Dinobot leader smiled slyly as he stomped over towards her. "Grimlock-" Prime frowned, but was rudely interrupted as the decided to push his luck once again: "-Oh no Prime, I'm very curious to know: just what you had to blackmail her with, to get her to be so, _'obedient'_"

The bots all looked at one another with worry as Majestrix's expression darkened: "Hold you're tongue Grimlock, or I'll _cut it out_ for you" she growled

"Well we both know _that's _not going to happen any time soon" he scoffed, "Don't you think _everyone here_ might like to know, just _why_, you haven't killed me already? We both know you've had plenty of opportunities to do so before. So why not now?"

"_Anyone_ here would give his rear tires to see _you_ on the scrapheap" Majestrix pointed out

"True, but who has the most _incentive_?" Grimlock smirked, "I'd say you've lost your _nerve_, to have not seized the opportunity, and slay me during the battle back there..." he taunted, "...Face it, if you haven't got the brass-bearings to handle me: how do you expect to command _any_ loyalty, _when everyone knows where you come from?_"

Everyone watched in shock as Majestrix punched the Tyrannosaurus upside his jaw, flooring him instantly, and moved to pin him down with a wrist-blade to the throat-cables.

"Majestrix!-" Prime moved to stop her before anything else could happen...

But just as he laid his hand on her shoulder, a sudden burst of static erupted over the open comm frequency: everyone grasped the side of their helms in discomfort as the signal leveled out, and an image appeared in their optic's field of view. It was an older human male, dressed head to toe in black hunting gear, with someone in a NEST uniform tied up to a chair, with a small hessian sack concealing their head.

**: Hello Autobot's :** he spoke in British accent, **: I do hope you're receiving this message loud and clear, because what I have to say, I will only say **_**once**_** :**

The Autobots everywhere all stopped and stilled: listening in a mix of confusion and anxiety as the human continued**, :...To your leader, Optimus Prime: I have this simple request. Lay down your arms, and surrender yourself to me. Have no one follow you, or come to your rescue. If you comply with this demand, I will call off the Insecticons, before they have another chance to attack: **

Frowning, Prime opened up his comm, **:...And if I do not comply to your request? : **

**: Then I'm afraid, it is not just the life of your troops that will be in immediate danger...: **the human stated as the image panned down to his hostage, as he pulled off the hessian sack: revealing Morri, with a semi-automatic pressed against the side of her head, and staring up into the camera with a look of defiance.

The Autobots all glanced at one another in shock: from where he was listening, Deathshot nearly lost it as he watched the live feed; Roxy stared at Veebee's radio in alarm, while Max stared off into space with shock as she overheard Portia's radio.

From where he stood at the entrance to the cave, Prime scowled in anger; remembering the face of this human, **: You should already have the co-ordinates to my location uploaded to your comm-receiver. You have one hour...: **and with that, the signal went dead.

Her anger towards Grimlock forgotten, Majestrix stared at her brother in disbelief, as his focus now shifted from the cons, to Morri.

* * *

CLIFFHANGER! 8D

Hope you all had a great Christmas! :) & happy New Years!

Much love and festive cheer, and please do R&R before clicking off ;)


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